BirdingNZ.net

Apologies for this first post. I am a regular birder from Canada living in New Zealand at the moment. Last night on my walk home in Wellington (Khandallah suburb) I noticed a very large kingfisher with distinctive facial marking, but without any blue/green colouring.

As I am not intimately familiar with all species of birds found in New Zealand, I assumed that it must be simply a type of kingfisher I hadn't seen before, as I have seen many of the 'normal' Kingfishers in NZ.

However, according to the NZ birdbook that I use (The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand - Robertson/Heather, 2015), there are only two types of "kingfisher" that can be found in NZ. When seeing the illustrations, it is clear that the bird I saw was a Laughing Kookaburra, but the range and habitat information provided makes me question it. It was perched on a powerline along the road, but not really what I would call "lightly forested open country"

I don't wish to prompt a stampede (which I have seen back home in Canada whenever a Whooping Crane is sighted in migration), but I am very confident the bird I saw was a Kookaburra. Will go out this evening to see if it remains in the area.

Is it possible that it could have been an escapee (from Zealandia?).

NZCanuck

Hi
Quite possibly an escapee (not Zealandia maybe the zoo) or a storm blown straggler.
My daughter believes she saw one in Pukerua Bay a few years ago as well.

cheers
jim

Just throwing it out there; could it have been a juvenile Australian magpie? When they're all fluffed up I can imagine one may look almost similar to a kook

Had a drive round Khandallah late this afternoon, but no sign of any Kookaburras (or many other birds, a little windy today in the northern suburbs).

Thanks for the responses Jim and Jake,

I have searched in vain for it all week, but no luck at all - nor have we heard anything. Still hoping someone else in Wellington might report something if it is what I think it was. I did have a look at the juvenile Magpie, and while obviously the pictures in the book aren't necessarily definitive, the markings still seem to lean towards a Kookaburra.

What I noticed the most about colouring (and jotted down at the time to help me identify it later) was the light coloured breast and neck area, as well as the back of the head. I thought that the crown was a bit more dusky in colour than the plate in the book shows, though. (Not sure what a juvenile Kookaburra might look like.)

However, I suppose the most obvious identifier for me was originally made from quite a distance - it looked like a very large kingfisher, with the distinctive head shape and bill. And the closer I got to it, that impression seemed confirmed. Due to its location on the wire and the steep driveway beside it, I was able to get to about 15 feet away and almost at eye level to it, and it didn't seem bothered by my presence at all. Just sat there looking at me and keeping its balance!

Hoping if that bird is still around in town that someone else in Wellington might spot it.

NZCanuck

P.S. In retrospect, we had noticed for 2-3 days earlier we could hear what we assumed was a "very hyperactive, squawking Tui" in the trees near the house, but didn't think much of it as Tuis tend to make all kinds of noises. As I am not that used to NZ birds sounds, it didn't seem all that out of the ordinary. But since the sighting we have noticed that we have not heard that same squawking bird since.