Billy wrote:

Your Kookaburra sounds similar to our Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus
pileatus), although it sounds as if you have way more birds than I do.

The Kookaburra is a great big kingfisher in shades of buff and
chocolate. They like to eat snakes and frogs and small birds, but most
of all, they like to laugh maniacally at the misfortunes of human
beings. A tribe of four or six of them will gather on a power pole and
laugh for a good ten or fifteen minutes to announce their presence. It's
a great sound and very loud while it lasts. Everyone smiles when the
Kookas are laughing.

(NB. It's pronounced 'cook-a-burra' with the emphasis on the first
syllable).


I attribute, in part, the lack of bad bugs in my garden to the bird
feeder, and bath which attracts chickadees (Chestnut-backed Chickadee
[Poecile rufescens]).

We also have many blue Jays that are really quite Stellar, but no one is
going to confuse them with songbirds.

Oh! Lucky! I s'pose the closest bird we'd have to a Chickadee would be
our tiny Fairy Wrens or maybe our Flame Robins (which are really
flycatchers, but let's not split hairs). A friend once sent me a feather
from a Stellar's Jay and it has pride of place among my natural history
collection.

Newcastle, and its environs, looks to be a very nice place.

It really is! We have a great climate and excellent beaches and access
to all sorts of ecosystems ranging from extensive sand dunes to coastal
heath to temperate rainforest to mediterranean wine-producing country.
The city itself is full of trees (and therefore, wildlife), but the
atmosphere is much more laid back and relaxed compared to Sydney. You
should visit. ;D

PS. The best thing: our main street ends about a block away from the
Pacific Ocean.

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia