If you were to name Australia’s “scariest” bird, the good old magpie would likely top your list for its notorious swooping.
In fact, September, which is fast-approaching, is the height of the “swooping season”.
But one US expat has shared her traumatizing encounter with – not a magpie – but a beloved kookaburra.
The TikTok user, who goes by the name of Jaylee Promise on the platform, has clocked 1.3 million ‘likes’ on clips mainly about her culture shock since moving to Australia earlier this year.
In her latest video, the Californian woman explained she was at a cafe with friends sitting in a grassy, outdoor area when a kookaburra flew straight past her.
“This is going to sound like a fake story but it’s not,” she began the clip.
They [Australians] they have these birds here called, I think, Cock-ah, Cook-ah-berra, or something,” Jaylee continued as she struggled to pronounce kookaburra.
“These birds are creepy. I have had incidents with these types of birds before. They are not scared, they will swoop right past your face, in your business.”
She said as she was enjoying her long black coffee while chatting to friends, a kookaburra swooped right past her face carrying a snake.
“A live snake in its beak,” she said with a stunned look on her face. “I seemed to be the only one shocked by this.
“Everyone was just like ‘anyway’. I was freaking out, about to fall off my chair.”
She said she didn’t know whether to “scream or cry” about what she was witnessing.
“This bird goes up into the tree and it is whacking the snake against the tree to kill it.”
Kookaburras do indeed eat snakes. They are almost exclusively carnivorous, also eating mice, yabbies, insects, small reptiles and the young of other birds, according to the Nature Conservancy Australia.
Wildlife rescuer William Watson told the ABC that kookaburras hit larger prey items such as snakes against trees and rocks to kill, soften or break them into smaller pieces before they swallow them.
In her clip, Jaylee continued. “Meanwhile I am meant to be paying attention to what my friends are saying and they’re not even looking over there.
“What if that bird dropped the snake on us? Anyway I think the bird ate it.”
In suburban parks and gardens, kookaburras are known to become quite brazen and will happily snatch a sausage or two off barbecues, so it’s best to keep a close eye on your meat.
Jaylee’s clip, titled “Another day in Australia”, unsurprisingly garnered hundreds of comments from Aussies unphased by the kookaburra’s act.
“Bit confused mate, what’s the issue?” one Aussie man asked.
“STRAYA!!!!” another commenter simply said, helpfully summing up the situation.
One person told Jaylee she had nothing to worry about.
“He won’t drop it on ya mate. It’s his dinner from him – he ai n’t letting it go for anything, ”he said, while another person pointed out the“ the only bird Australians fear is the magpie ”.
“I live on a farm. Kookaburras and blue-tongued lizards are always welcome because they keep snakes away. Fantastic animals,” yet another poster added.
Others described the native kookaburra as the “coolest Australian bird”.
“They might steal your food but they won’t hurt you and they’re easy to befriend,” one person told the US expat.
“Yeah be careful if you go camping, they literally will take a sausage or meat from your mouth if you ain’t careful,” another said.
“Aussies won’t flinch for a kookaburra, except to say ‘hi’ to it. Now… magpies are another matter,” a third person added.
One TikTok user said she witnessed a kookaburra steal a little boy’s chip right out of his hand.
“And this poor kid’s looking at his hand where the chip used to be,” she said.
However, while many reassured the US woman she had nothing to fear, others couldn’t but correct her pronunciation.
“Every Australian in the comments screaming ‘IT’S KOOKABURRA’ myself included,” one woman wrote.
“Pronounced: COOK-AH-BAH-RAH,” another advised.
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