Colours
Distinguishing features
It has a black cap, blue-tinged wings, and a pale rufous belly and tail feathers, but its white bill distinguishes it very clearly from other kookaburras with their black bills. Juveniles, however, have a dark grey bill.
Like the Blue-winged Kookaburra, the sexes can be distinguished by the colour of the tail feathers: blue in males and rufous in females and immature birds. Rufous-bellied Kookaburras are smaller than other kookaburra species. (Wikipedia)
Size
- Up to 30 cm (Length of specimen)
Wingspan
- Wingspan data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
It is widely distributed through the forests of lowland New Guinea. It has also been recorded on Saibai Island, Queensland, Australia.
This kookaburra is unusual in that it occupies dense rainforests (as opposed to the open country preferred by other kookaburras) and does not live in cooperative breeding family groups but singly or when breeding in pairs. Rufous-bellied Kookaburras can be found in the middle story of the tropical rainforest, where they fly out directly and swiftly from their perch to seize large insects from trees. (Wikipedia)
Behaviour
Like their larger relatives, Rufous-bellied Kookaburras breed in termite mounds. (Wikipedia)
