Kookaburras find life full of laughs

Kookaburras like to laugh, and might often do so as they watch other birds toiling to build complex nests. They just don't dig such toil. Better, they chortle, to take over readymade hollow, or do minor mining on used termite nest in tree.

Here's a prime possie right by the beach, plenty of food on the surrounding paperbarks, eucalypts and acacias, and mostly congenial neighbours, though bit of a problem with flies (Kookaburras don't rate nest hygiene highly).

And perhaps unseen nestlings can be fussy. Parent bird made several efforts to pass on spider, and couldn't find a taker. No such reluctance from within the nest when insects were offered. Imagine comment inside the nest: Spiders? You must be joking! Having a laugh, are you? Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Not far away, female Olive-backed Sunbird goes about serious business of weaving a 'real' nest. No time to mess about laughing the day away here!