The laughing kookaburra ( lat. Dacelo novaeguineae) is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye-stripe.
The laughing kookaburra is the largest of the kingfishers. It has a large bill that has a black upper mandible (top beak), and a tan lower mandible. The laughing kookaburra also has a white belly, a whitish head, brown wings, a brown back and dark brown eye-stripes. Length 40-48 cm; wingspan 66-80 cm; weight 310-380 g. Largest kingfisher in HANZAB area; slightly bigger than Blue-winged Kookaburra Dacelo leachii, with shorter, more conical bill.
Very large robust kingfisher; head, neck and underparts mostly white, marked with promi- nent dark eye-stripe; upperparts mostly dark brown, with light- blue mottling on upperwing-coverts and rump; and tail barred rufous and black; iris dark. Loud raucous laughing call distinc tive. While no separate breeding (alternate) plumage, primary adults have slightly brighter plumage than auxiliary (and non- breeding) birds (see Plumages). Sexes differ only slightly in plumage; females average slightly bigger but not reliable distinction. No seasonal variation. Much individual variation (see Plumages The laughing kookaburra got its common name from the loud territorial sound that it makes. The calls are often mistaken for many different animals, such as donkeys or monkeys.
In many of the old Tarzan movies, the jungle sounds were often recordings of the laughing kookaburra call, which lives nowhere near Africa.