Rufous-bellied Kookaburra

The rufous-bellied kookaburra (Dacelo gaudichaud), 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.

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 at around 143 g (5.0 oz) as against the laughing kookaburra's 335 g (11.8 oz) and about 28 cm (11.0 in) as against the laughing kookaburra's 46 cm (18.1 in). Despite this major size difference, the rufous-bellied kookaburra has been known to form (infertile) hybrids with all other kookaburra species, though available genetic studies suggest it is clearly the most distant of the four.