Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) - BirdLife species factsheet

Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
For long known as D. gigas, but name novaeguineae (dating to same year) has priority; species does not occur in New Guinea, and Sonnerat’s first description of it from there seems to have been a deliberate falsification. Two subspecies recognized.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	3,860,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	6.12 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Australia	extant	native	yes
New Zealand	extant	introduced	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 900 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/laughing-kookaburra-dacelo-novaeguineae on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.