New here w/pics! (Dial-up warning...)

[CarriBrown]

Welcome to the board! I love Petunia!

 

[jeaucamom]

Does anyone else have the song "Kookabura sits in the old gum tree... eating all the gumdrops he can see... stop kookabura, stop kookabura.... save some gum for me" stuck in their head???

LOL I had never seen one before.... aren't the totally fascinating!! I never tire of God's imagination when he created all the animals.

You do have very pretty birds. Welcome and so glad you find your babies as wonderful as we all do. Suz

 

[fallenweeble]

purdy chickens!
and really cool kooks.
can you post a little bit about the kooks? just a little bit about their origin, care and feeding, behavior and such. i know NOTHING about them and they look so fascinating!

and, WELCOME!

 

[geoaware]

Quote:
My kids know it as "Kookaburra sits on the electric wire, jumping up and down with his bum on fire....."

....we are aussies, so i guess we can have fun with a national song

I love your Kookaburas.....they are beautiful and remind me so much of living in Sydney and hearing them sing each day....

 

[okiechick57]

Hi, Welcome to BYC..............oh the Kooks

those are just so cute....................can you share on the care and cost and all of owning them? Hope you enjoy this forum............NO, I KNOW you will enjoy this forum.........

 

[Roux]

The kookaburras came from a breeder in California. They're native to Australia & introduced to New Zealand, and are the second-largest kingfisher species after African Giant kingfishers. Their call is widely known as a classic jungle sound, often mistaken for monkeys. The Honolulu Zoo site has a great sound clip of the Kook laugh.

Sydney will be 3 this year, and Bindi is turning 2, so hopefully they'll become reproductive this season. We're in the process of building them a floor-to-ceiling enclosure (we operate a retail pet store & the kooks are a main attraction) with multiple branches & cork-bark hides.

Kooks are carnivorous, and mine eat a diet primarily consisting of frozen-thawed mice (we also maintain a reptile breeding facility, so rodents abound), shiners (fish), night crawlers, hornworms, and occasionally a giant hissing roach if they're up for it. Kookaburras will also *try* to eat anything smaller than them, so they don't mix well with other pets necessarily. Ours even have no problem going after the cats if the cats get too close.

In this state we're required to have a permit to import & keep them since they're not specifically on the list of "allowed" animals, but not designated as "not allowed" either. So, with permits, shipping & DNA sexing, the pair ran right around $1500.

Both birds are very handleable, and I can get them to call to me pretty readily, most easily in the morning & evening. They will "laugh" throughout the day depending on mood. They're not lovey-dovey like a hand-raised parrot would be, but are very tolerant of handling & interaction.

They're some of my all-time favorite critters, so let me know if I can answer any more questions about them.

 

[Wildsky]

OH they're adorable...... the Kook's - and pretty darn BIG seeing them with a persons hand!

Very cute!!! Gosh I hope they do make some babies for you!

 

[Wildsky]

That sound clip was awesome!

 

[Critter Crazy]

WOW!! What great pics!!! Welcome to BYC!!!

 

[okiechick57]

Thanks for all that info......that sound clip was so cool.they do sound just like monkeys !