There’s a certain level of curiosity and awe when animals mimic human sounds.
It can be terrifying at first and it may have been the stuff of superstitions in the cultures that encountered them.
But we can’t disregard the fact that it’s kind of amazing.
Laughter is the best medicine.
The animals that easily come to mind are howling monkeys, laughing hyenas, or cats that mimic baby cries.
We’re not going to dump in parrots because that’s kind of cheating, but we’ll definitely include another adorable bird.
The Kookaburra
A kookaburra demonstrated this uncanny laugh in a video posted by ViralHog.
The video shows a baby kookaburra perched on the stair railing.
It was not specified where the place was or if the bird was under the care of the person taking the video.
It seems, however, that the bird seemed comfortable.
With its button eye, seemingly oversized head, and large beak, the baby kookaburra approached the camera a bit.
Then, without warning, it laughed.
The laugh sounded like a sinister laugh that was a mix between croaking and cackling.
This sound gave the bird its colloquial name “laughing kookaburra”.
This habit of “laughing” also gave it its other names like the “bushman’s alarm clock” as it laughs at sunrise and just before sunset.
It would be crazy to imagine how the first natives reacted when they heard the kookaburra in the wilderness.
They are native to eastern Australia.
They are commonly found perched on eucalyptus trees much like Australia’s iconic animal, the koala bear.
They’re big in their family.
These birds can grow up to a pound and 18 inches in length.
This makes them one of the biggest birds of the Kingfisher family.
Its diet includes a variety of invertebrates and small vertebrates like smaller species of snakes.
They also pose a headache to farmers in Western Australia because they attack farm fowl.
Their “laugh” isn’t actually laughter.
It’s a typical territorial call that kookaburras use to warn other birds in the area.
So next time you hear one, it might just be a bird asking for its personal space.
Kookaburras are considered as least concern when it comes to risks of extinction. The species is spread out all over the world.
However, conservationists have observed a downward trend when it comes to their Australian and Southeast Asian populations.
Conservationists blame excessive logging.
The video has gone viral.
Not because of the laughter but for how adorable the baby bird is.
It has over 700,000 likes and over 10,000 comments.
People are in love.
“That has to be the cutest baby bird I have ever seen!” said one comment.
Another one even said that they wanted to kiss its fluffy head.
“I have literally NEVER known what a Kookaburra looks or sounds like until this point in my life,” said another commenter.
“I have never in my life even considered that Kookaburras ever had baby stages, yet I have been positively graced by the presence of this fluffy ball today,” wrote a newly converted kookaburra fan.
Hear the “laughter” that has people falling for this tiny bird in the video below!
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