Bird Lovers Question

Birds arent as dumb as most people think .....

Obviously the last place they were at had a Bar-B-Q as well ... lolol

Insects, small reptiles and frogs seem to be a staple diet ... any snacks from the barby should probably, only be raw mince.

Hi Kroozer, first of all I know how you feel about Kookaburras, they are a lovely bird and like you I love their song (or should I say Laugh). Rule of thumb is that you are not supposed to feed native animals/birds unless it is necessary, but having said that we have the same problem with maggies here, what do you do when they come up to the door and look in to see what you are going to give them.Well yes I weakened but am very careful not to make a habit of it. As for what to feed Kookaburras, they are a meat eating bird, (hence the love of your BBQ ha ha ha) and when I was a kid our family had a pet Kooka and we use to feed it mutton mince and it thrived on it.
Just a footnote here, I've been led to believe that Kookaburras are not native to WA, over 100 years ago some one decided that they liked them so much they thought that WA should have them too so some were brought over from the Eastern States, not sure on the reliability of that. I read it somewhere.

Cheers

D

Be a bit careful about the Kookas as the barbie. I've seen them swoop down and take the meat off a (just lit) barbie.
They then just keep coming back for more.
I always thought that they killed and ate small snakes. But the ones here just refuse to have anything to do with the snakes at all, alive or dead. The smaller birds hassle the snakes. The Koalas just sit and watch with a huge grin.

Hi Kroozer.

Feeding wild Birds and or Animals, In my opinion is not a good idea.

Reason being is they then rely on people feeding them, with the young ones watching they loose the need to hunt catch there own food, Birds will dive and take food out of your hand at a picnic, I have seen a Whistling Kite that had been fed by tourists, take a sandwich out of the hand of an elderly lady, it's talons left a nasty gash in her cheek, another reason is that the foods we eat can be harmful to our native creatures.

The Blue Winged Kookaburra is called the call of Kakadu here, as it is the first call in the morning and the last at night, they can live in the same tree for 15 years or more, the blue tail is the male and the brown tail female, their call is to let their neighbours know that they are home, it's a boundary thing.

An excellent DVD is The Call of Kakadu a documentary on the 6 seasons of Kakadu and it was filmed over a 10 year period at the Anbangbang Billabong near Nourlandgie rock, featuring a family of Blue Winged Kookaburras, it was filmed by David Curl an English Zoologist.

Cheers Steve.

I agree with the view of dont feed unless they are starving but if you must only use fresh meat not packaged mince as most of it has preservitives and is not good for them
Vic

I agree with Top End...feeding the Kookas may seem like a nice thing to do but it creates problems down the line. I have had food taken off the BBQ and on one occasion my daughter was about to put the sausage on a roll in her mouth and had it taken from her hand right in front of her face. The more they get fed the bigger the problem for those behind you.

Yes - love the blue wings. Am always amazed by their sound, not at all like the laugh of our kookas here in Vic. You should not feed them, no matter how appealing they are. A couple of reasons for this: 1. You will make them dependent on you for food and then they may starve if your food supply dries up. 2. Kookas can become very bold if fed by people. We have seen this at Carnarvon Gorge NP in Qld, when the campground there was open. Kookas got in the habit of taking food from BBQ's and picnic tables; one went to grab a sausage from fork as lady was putting it to her mouth, misjudged slightly and went through her cheek - very nasty wound. Their beaks are incredibly sharp and strong.
Just stick to providing water they can drink and bath in and leave them to hunt own food - should be plenty for them in your part of the world!

Lots of salt and a hot flame is best - there OK with potatoes.
Can be a little chewey and stringy if underdone!
Leg meat can be a bit rich/strong for some stomachs - the breast is usually OK.

Cheers