You may not think you’ve heard the rollicking call of the Laughing Kookaburra, but you almost certainly have. The Kookaburra’s loud “laugh” — that echoing koo-koo-koo-koo-KA-KA-KA! in the background of every jungle movie ever made — actually comes from a squat, unassuming bird who would never be found anywhere near a jungle. In fact, the traditional home of the wild Laughing Kookaburra is the wide-open eucalyptus forests of Australia.

The Laughing Kookaburra is the largest member of the kingfisher family. But while many kingfishers are brightly colored and famed for their dramatic dives down into the water in search of fish, the brown-and-beige Laughing Kookaburra prefers dry woodlands and city parks, not to mention a more practical sit-and-wait style of hunting. Kookaburras will eat almost any kind of meat they can get hold of — insects, small mammals, hotdogs, snakes. Once caught up in the Kookaburra’s strong beak, prey is carried up into the trees and whacked repeated against a branch to kill it and soften the insides up for easy eating.

When they’re not stealing food from picnics or beating up snakes, Kookaburras use their distinctive call as a territorial marker. Everywhere you can hear their laughter belongs to them! Unfortunately, they like nothing better than to sound off first thing in the morning. This tendency to wake people up, whether they want to or not, has earned the Laughing Kookaburra the local nickname “The Bushman’s Alarm Clock.”

Both the male and female Blue-crowned Motmot have green and blue plumage with a chestnut chest. They have a large head with a blue crown, black eye mask around red eyes, and a short serrated beak. Their most distinguishing features are their long central tail feathers that feature bare sections near the tips. These oddly shaped feathers are often twitched back and forth like the pendulum of a clock — a peculiar behavior that is typical of motmots. Their call is a repeated “mot-mot” sound, which is the source of their common name. Motmots build elaborate underground nests that they dig during the rainy season and use several months later. One of the hypothesized reasons for this time gap is to hide the evidence of their nest when they actually lay their eggs.

Blue-bellied Rollers are a colorful species native to central Africa. Males and females look identical, and have a brilliant royal blue abdomen, dark and light blue feathers on their wings, and a tan head. They are powerful flyers and have a loud, croaking call. During the breeding season, pairs of Blue-bellied Rollers engage in elaborate courtship flights, which include nosedives and the rolling action for which they were named.

The handsome Plush-crested Jay inhabits forests, open woodlands, and forest edges, as well as scrublands and fruit groves of south-central South America. This species is omnivorous, mostly eating small invertebrates and fruits, but also taking seeds, eggs, nestlings, frogs, and lizards. Plush-crested Jays forage in flocks of several birds, and, like temperate zone jays, will cache (store) extra food in crannies of trees and in holes under leaf litter. The Plushed-crested Jay is a communal breeder, with two or three helpers at the nest who are the pair’s young from previous nestings. These helpers participate in nest duties and nest defense. Although not threatened, the illegal pet trade is a negative factor affecting the species.

The American Crow occurs in a wide range of habitats in North America and can be found in rural farmland, suburbs, and even urban and residential areas. This species requires little more than large trees for roosting and nesting, and open ground for foraging. Much of the success of the American Crow lies in its highly varied and flexible diet, which may include fruits, nuts, seeds, insects and other invertebrates, small vertebrates of many kinds, carrion, and even human food scraps. A member of the Corvid family, American Crows are known for their intelligence and cunning. Young have been observed playing with objects they find on the ground and “log-rolling”: running atop an object like an empty cup or soda can. Their nest is a large stick nest high in a tree. The American Crow is not of conservation concern.

Scarlet Ibis are beautiful birds noted for the vibrancy of their namesake scarlet feathers. These bright birds are found in mangrove swamps and wetlands of northern South America, feeding on crustaceans as they wade through water. Like other ibis species, the Scarlet Ibis is very social, and sometimes even forages with other species like herons and spoonbills. They have also been known to follow behind foraging ducks, catching and eating insects disturbed by the ducks’ passage. 

Roseate Spoonbills are distinctive birds with pink plumage with a uniquely shaped bill that gives them their name. Their long, flat bill is rounded at the end like a spoon, and they use it to scoop up small crustaceans as they slowly walk through shallow water. These small crustaceans are also the source of the Roseate Spoonbill’s coloring! Spoonbills are social birds and gather in groups when feeding, roosting, and nesting. Like other waterbirds, habitat loss and pollution are threats.

Conservation Story
During the late 1800s, this species was decimated by the feather trade for its highly prized plumes. The degradation and destruction of coastal foraging habitats in the United States are some of the most important conservation problems for this species.

The shimmery feathers of the Hadada Ibis isn’t the only attention-grabbing feature of this bird: its loud call can be heard echoing through the Wetlands! Hadada Ibises are found in sub-Saharan Africa in a variety of habitats and often in close proximity to humans. This medium-sized ibis uses its long, curved beak to probe the ground for insects and the occasional small frog or reptile. Their populations are not globally threatened and in fact may even be increasing with the spread of agricultural development and irrigated land.

The Black-faced Ibis is found throughout open fields and meadows in southern South America. Black-faced Ibises are sociable birds, often nesting in colonies of up to 50 pairs, and sometimes among other species like Black-crowned Night-Herons or cormorants. They may feed alone or in small flocks, and their diet consists of insects and occasionally frogs, salamanders, and small rodents. This species is not globally threatened.

Made internationally famous as the result of the animated character, Zazu, in Disney’s The Lion King, the Red-billed Hornbill is a bird of open savannas and woodlands, and dry thorn-scrub with sparse ground cover in the Afrotropical region. This species forages for a variety of small invertebrates, but will also take some fruit and seeds. Like other hornbills, this species is best known for its enormous bill, and for its nesting habits. Utilizing an old barbet or woodpecker cavity as a nest, the female hornbill seals the entrance with her own droppings and food remains, lays her eggs, and incubates them for 23–25 days. The female and chicks are fed throughout this time by the male through a small opening. While in the cavity, the female molts all her wing and tail feathers, and emerges when the oldest chick is about three weeks old.

Snowy Egrets are strikingly beautiful birds, with pure white plumage and graceful and elaborate courtship displays. The feathers of the Snowy Egret were highly sought after for fashion, primarily for women’s hats, throughout the late 1800s and into the early twentieth century. The species’ population declined rapidly until restrictions on hunting were put into place and the feather trade was ended. Snowy Egrets made a comeback and even extended their range. They are adaptable to a range of environmental foraging conditions. Snowy Egrets are a focal species that attracts other waders to foraging aggregations, and the addition of more feeding birds may increase success rates for all foraging birds. The Snowy Egret’s bright yellow feet enhance a foraging maneuvers, like “foot-stirring” that attract or startle prey. Today, the Snowy Egret remains vulnerable to oil spills, habitat loss, plastic pollution, and pesticides.

The Javan Pond-Heron is a wading bird found in Southeast Asia. Described as “stout,” this heron is sometimes mistaken for an egret with similar plumage. It inhabits swamps, marshes, and flooded plains, where it forages for crabs, insects, and fish by remaining motionless for long periods of time before snatching food from the water. This species is not globally threatened and its numbers may actually be increasing.