Adelaides back in action!
DZGs laughing kookaburra, Adelaide, is enjoying being back in our Go Wild! Shows after undergoing her annual moult.
Presenter Dorrie Hall and Presentation Assistant Amy Hickman, pictured above with Adelaide, have been putting her through her paces so she can show off her impressive skills in the show.
Dorrie said: Weve been training Adelaide to fly in the theatre again and she has loved every minute of it. She’s a very nosey bird and likes nothing more than seeing visitors in our daily shows.
Laughing kookaburras have incredible eye beak co-ordination and visitors can see this in action when Adelaide catches her dinner mid-air.
ABOVE: Adelaide takes in a mid-air meal
In the shows in the Go Wild! Theatre Adelaide also demonstrates how kookaburras would catch poisonous Australian snakes.
Dorrie added: Adelaide is quite mean to snakes so we use a stunt double!
She grabs it behind its head and slams it repeatedly on the ground. This not only knocks the snake out but breaks up the many bones in a snakes body and helps the bird to digest it.
Today kookaburras come into contact with humans a lot more, and being intelligent they know that wherever people are, tasty snacks are nearby.
They have been known to steal sandwiches from peoples picnics, swipe burgers from barbecues and, when I went to Australia, even grab the bacon off my breakfast plate!
Laughing kookaburras are native to Australia and get their name from the laughing call used to demarcate its territorial borders. The call is often heard at dawn, which has given rise to another name for the kookaburra – the Bushmans clock.
It is the largest member of the kingfisher family although its colouration is much duller than the blue-feathered kingfisher due to their habitat. Kookaburras tend to be found in eucalyptus forests and woodlands.
Kookaburras live in loose family groups with offspring helping the adults to hunt and care for the next generation of youngsters. They rarely eat fish. Instead their diet consists mainly of small mammals, insects and reptiles.
DID YOU KNOW . . .
Kookaburras were previously known as laughing jackasses
