A Laughing Kookaburra and a Blue-winged Kookaburra repeatedly inspecting a nest hollow and mating

Abstract

An unsexed adult Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae and an adult male-plumaged Blue-winged Kookaburra D. leachii were observed and photographed as they repeatedly examined, and separately spent periods of time within, a potential nesting tree hollow on Magnetic Island, north Queensland, in August 2025. The Laughing Kookaburra repeatedly mated with the Blue-winged Kookaburra in an adjacent tree. Associated with them were at least another male and two female Blue-winged Kookaburras. This is the first record of individuals of the two Australian kookaburra species pairbonding, inspecting a nest hollow and mating, implying at least the potential possibility for hybridisation between the species.