The loud, distinctive call of the laughing kookaburra is widely used as a stock sound effect in situations that involve an Australian bush setting or tropical jungle, especially in older movies.

[citation needed] They are found in habitats ranging from humid forest to arid savannah, as well as in suburban areas with tall trees or near running water.

The shovel-billed kookaburra was previously classified in the monotypic genus Clytoceyx, but was reclassified into Dacelo based on phylogenetic evidence.

Kookaburras are almost exclusively carnivorous, eating mice, snakes, insects, small reptiles, and the young of other birds.

Although most birds will accept handouts and take meat from barbecues, feeding kookaburras ground beef or pet food is not advised, because they do not include enough calcium and roughage.

[citation needed] A Kookaburra's diet includes lizards, snakes, frogs, rodents, beetles, worms, bugs, and other small mammals.

[14] The distinctive sound of the laughing kookaburra's call resembles human laughter, is widely used in filmmaking and television productions, as well as certain Disney theme-park attractions, regardless of African, Asian, or South American jungle settings.