A laughing kookaburra territory is held year round by a breeding pair together with offspring from previous seasons that stay on as helpers. The chorus is produced by the whole group, one bird starting and others joining, with the volume and duration signalling how many birds are present and therefore how well defended the ground is.
Despite belonging to the kingfishers, the species is essentially terrestrial in its hunting. It watches from a low branch and drops onto prey: insects, worms, lizards, small mammals and snakes, which it kills by beating against a branch. Fish are a minor and occasional item.
Helpers at the nest are the norm rather than the exception, and young birds may remain for several years before dispersing. What the chorus encodes precisely, and whether individual voices are recognisable to neighbours, is still being worked out. The bird's call has been used so often in films set in jungles worldwide that many people associate it with the wrong continent.