Where Can I See Kookaburra birds?

We will be in Sydney for three days pre-cruise in January. We are hoping to see some kookaburra birds. Can anyone tell me where we might find them? Thanks so much.

Only place I can think of is Featherdale Wildlife Park, or any zoo. Worth a day trip out to Featherdale to see all our aussie animals. Here is a link. http://www.featherdale.com.au/kingfishers/

You may see them in public parks too, but with only 3 days, this prob is your best bet. btw, we have a family of 7 Kookaburras in our backyard. They have been here for years, having one baby per year. Noisy little darlings at times! They are a fairly common bird downunder.

Just adding.... this place will be closer for you, but smaller. http://www.wildlifesydney.com.au/

You can pretty much look up into any tree in any park. They are a pretty solid bird and hard to miss.

Good place is to head to https://www.thetearoom.com.au at Gunners Barracks for lunch or afternoon tea. They cover every branch of every neighbouring tree in the vicinity as they are partial to the scones. They have been known to fly straight in and snatch food off the plate - and I personally bear a spectacular facial scar when last year one dive bombed and tried to follow a piece of scone down my throat. Beak was like a razor as it sliced through my face !

Though Laughing Kookaburras are kingfishers, they do not concentrate along watercourses to nearly the extent that "regular" kingfishers do in both North America and Australia. Look and listen for kookaburras in parks and woodland when ashore anywhere in eastern Australia (or in the southwest) -- they do not occur across a broad area of central Australia. Their unmistakable calls are audible for a long distance.

If you stop in central or northern Queensland, or in the Top End, there is a separate species there -- the Blue-winged Kookaburra, which has much more blue in its plumage.

John

you might see them at wildlife sydney zoo in darling harbour in the city area

http://www.wildlifesydney.com.au/explore/gum-tree-valley/kookaburra-profile

We saw them at the Taronga zoo. They were dive-bombing a group of teenage girls. It was funny to watch, but I felt for the girls particularly the one the birds managed to leave their offering on twice.

I agree that the best place to see Kookaburras would be in a zoo or wildlife park.

We lived in Sydney for 16 years and only saw the occasional Kookaburra so your chances of seeing one in the city area in 3 days is not good. (Thousands of beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets but very few Kookaburras). Obviously there are areas of Sydney where they would be plentiful, but for a visitor to the city this isn't an option.

Where we were living until recently on the Sunshine Coast in Qld, we were feeding a family of 3 Kookaburras so they were guaranteed to turn up almost every evening for a free and easy meal but where we are now we hear them but only see them occasionally.

So the upshot of this essay ;) is if you only have 3 days, I agree with previous posters - a zoo is the best place.:)

Enjoy your cruise and your time in Sydney.

Thank you all for the wonderful ideas, information, and links. We will only be in Sydney and Tazmania, and only have 3 days in Sydney. I did not know that they "divebombed" by people or by food, that is very interesting. We are planning a tour to the Blue Mountains and Featherdale park, so we will look for them there and hope to find them. We are nature lovers, and birds in particular, so we really hoped to find some. We will also be on the lookout for the rainbow lorikeets that bronte2 mentioned. Thanks again everyone.

Lorikeets are everywhere! So are the kookaburras but not in the heart of the city. We have both birds in our backyard, which backs on to a small bush valley and we're only a few kilometers from the CBD.

Yes, the kookaburras do steal food especially at popular picnic spots. We had one steal a sausage right off the barbecue grill when picnicking with friends once. Lorikeets are known for stealing sugar packets off outdoor tables at cafes.

When you are in the Blue Mountains look out for the crimson rosellas. They are often seen around the tourist shop at Echo Point.

There are lots of other interesting birds in Australia and, as others have suggested, visiting a wildlife park will probably give you the best opportunities to see some of these.

Hope you have a wonderful trip. :)

If anyone sees the kookaburra that lives in the tree outside my bedroom window and wakes me up at 4.45 am without fail when I'm jet lagged, would they please strangle it?

If anyone sees the kookaburra that lives in the tree outside my bedroom window and wakes me up at 4.45 am without fail when I'm jet lagged, would they please strangle it?

Hehehe....legend tells that the kookaburra laughs as a warning that rain is coming. Yes, they are loud. Sadly 'ours' laugh constantly, rain or no rain, and like yours, are early risers:D

To the op.....enjoy your trip downunder, and esp our amazing wildlife.

Thank you again to everyone for lots of great information and ideas. We are really looking forward to our trip, especially the amazing wildlife in Australia.

In summer just sit or stand next to picnic table at a BBQ where someone is eating sausages. Kookaburras love to fly down and snare the sausages off the plate. I also see them daily just before sunset whilst walking in my local park.

Cockatoos are everywhere (they particularly like wooden verandahs), Pink/grey galahs are often seem in groups nibbling on grass seeds on the side of urban roads, lorikeets are eveywhere and are often seen and heard in groups on bottlebrush bushes.

You will sometimes see king parrots in Sydney. We get them from time to time in our backyard and they are beautiful

If anyone sees the kookaburra that lives in the tree outside my bedroom window and wakes me up at 4.45 am without fail when I'm jet lagged, would they please strangle it?

Too funny!

Wow, it sounds like there are so many beautiful birds to see in Australia. We are really looking forward to this trip - it sounds like a paradise for bird lovers. Thanks again everyone!

Yes, lots of gorgeous birds here. Lots of noisy ones too :D