kookaburra

UK/ˈkʊkəˌbʌɹə/US/ˈkʊkəˌbʌɹə/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,088 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: kookaburras

A kookaburra is an Australian bird whose call sounds like wild laughter. Hear the kookaburra, a laughing kookaburra, kookaburras at dawn.

The call is a territorial announcement made by the whole family together, usually at dawn and dusk. It is a kingfisher that has given up fishing, and it takes snakes and lizards instead.

Definitions of kookaburra

1nounkookaburraAn Australian bird whose call sounds like wild laughter.B2+
“We woke in the Australian bush to the loud, cackling call of a kookaburra.”

kookaburra is a bird.

Where it comes from

From Wiradjuri guuguubarra, imitating the bird's call.

wrh
guuguubarra — laughing kookaburra
English, today
kookaburra

Borrowed from wrh guuguubarra (“laughing kookaburra”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Birds

Practise this word

kookaburra in the wild

Though they are a species of kingfisher, kookaburras are not closely associated with water.
Kookaburra
The laughing kookaburra is native to eastern mainland Australia, but has also been introduced to parts of New Zealand, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
Laughing kookaburra
The laughing kookaburra generally breeds in unlined tree holes or in excavated holes in arboreal termite nests.
Laughing kookaburra
The blue-winged kookaburra (Dacelo leachii) is a large species of kingfisher native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea.
Blue-winged kookaburra
Measuring around 40 cm, it is slightly smaller than the more familiar laughing kookaburra.
Blue-winged kookaburra

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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