The rufous-bellied kookaburra, originally known as Gaudichaud's kookaburra after French botanist Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré, is a species of kookaburra that is widely distributed through the forests of lowland New Guinea.
Region
New Guinea and nearby islands
Typical Environment
Occurs widely through the lowland and foothill rainforests of New Guinea, in both Papua New Guinea and Indonesian Papua. It favors primary and tall secondary rainforest, riverine forest, and forest edges, and can occur in swamp-forest mosaics. Birds typically use shaded subcanopy perches and quiet interior trails, sometimes venturing to clearings or garden edges adjacent to forest. It is generally sedentary within its territories and is considered fairly common where suitable habitat persists.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called Gaudichaud’s kookaburra, this species is a forest-dwelling kookaburra confined to lowland New Guinea. It often hunts from shaded perches in the subcanopy, dropping to the ground or sallying to foliage to seize prey. Its loud, bubbling calls are reminiscent of other kookaburras but are higher-pitched and more trilling.
Skeleton
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between perches
Social Behavior
Typically found singly or in pairs that maintain year-round territories. Pairs nest in tree cavities or arboreal termitaria, and both sexes participate in territory defense and provisioning of young. Displays include head-bobbing and tail-fanning accompanied by ringing calls.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A loud, bubbling series of trills and chuckles that builds and then fades, higher-pitched than the classic Laughing Kookaburra chorus. Also gives sharp kek notes and scolding rattles during territorial encounters.
Plumage
Compact kookaburra with rufous underparts, clean whitish throat and collar, and darker brown upperparts with a bluish wing panel. The crown and face are dusky with a contrasting pale collar, and the tail shows rufous tones. Feathers appear smooth and close, giving a neat, well-defined look.
Diet
Feeds mainly on large insects such as beetles, orthopterans, and mantises, along with spiders and other arthropods. It also takes small vertebrates including lizards, frogs, and occasionally small rodents. Prey is seized in short sallies from a perch or by dropping to the ground, then subdued with the stout bill.
Preferred Environment
Hunts from shaded perches in the subcanopy, along forest trails, river margins, and edges where light penetrates. Will forage at the margins of clearings and in secondary growth adjacent to intact forest.
