Kookaburras at Hawks Nest: a long weekend at Seacrest 7
Updated: Oct 6
Written by the owners of Tilly and Annies Place and Seacrest 7, Hawks Nest. Last reviewed October 2026.
Kookaburras at Hawks Nest are not something you go looking for. They find you. On the October long weekend we stayed at Seacrest 7, our apartment on Beach Road, and from the first morning there were kookaburras everywhere: whole families on the balcony rail, one on the floor by the outdoor table, and a chorus in the trees before the sun was properly up. This is what we saw, what the experts say about the bird behind the laugh, and how to make the most of them on your own stay.
In short: the laughing kookaburra is the largest member of the kingfisher family, up to 46 centimetres long, and lives in family groups that defend a territory with a loud shared call. Hawks Nest, with its coastal bush, beach and river, suits them well, so you are likely to see and hear them daily, especially at dawn and dusk.
At a glance
Size: up to 46 cm long, about 340 grams
Breeding season: August to January
Best time to hear them: dawn and late afternoon
Where we watched: the balcony at Seacrest 7, Beach Road
In this article
Kookaburras at Hawks Nest: what we saw from the balcony
We had come for the beach and a quiet few days. What we got was a front-row seat. The kookaburras arrived in groups of three and four and lined up along the balcony rail, heads turning in unison, as if they were waiting for the show to start. Some days one would drop to the balcony floor, walk a few steps and look up at us without much concern. We have more videos of kookaburras from that weekend than of anything else.
What looked like a gathering of friends was almost certainly a family. Kookaburras live in groups, and the extra birds are usually older offspring that have stayed home to help. Watching them sit shoulder to shoulder makes more sense once you know that.
Why there are so many kookaburras at Hawks Nest
Hawks Nest sits on a narrow strip of land between the Myall River and the ocean, with Myall Lakes National Park to the north. That mix of open woodland, coastal scrub, lawns and water gives kookaburras what they need: high perches to hunt from, tree hollows to nest in, and a steady supply of insects, lizards and other small prey. Our Hawks Nest guide covers the other wildlife you will share the place with.
The laughing kookaburra is native to eastern Australia, and the Australian Museum notes it has been introduced to Tasmania, south-western Western Australia and New Zealand. Here on the Mid North Coast you are in its home range.
Laughing kookaburra facts: the numbers behind the laugh
Some figures from the government and wildlife bodies that study them:
Size. Up to 46 centimetres from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail, according to NSW Environment and Heritage. Birds in Backyards, the BirdLife Australia program, gives an average length of 42 centimetres.
Weight. About 340 grams on average, per Birds in Backyards. That is lighter than it looks on a balcony rail.
The family. There are 10 kingfisher species in Australia and 6 of them live in NSW. The laughing kookaburra is the biggest. The little kingfisher, at the other end of the scale, is only 12 centimetres long.
Breeding. The season runs from August to January, so an October visit falls right in the middle of it. A pair lays up to 3 eggs in a tree hollow or a termite mound, and the eggs take between 24 and 29 days to hatch, according to NSW Environment and Heritage. BirdLife Australia puts the usual clutch at 2 to 3 eggs, with incubation of about 25 days, and says pairs are believed to mate for life.
Helpers. Young from the previous one to two years usually stay with their parents and help raise the new chicks. All members of the group share the parenting.
Status. Listed as Least Concern by BirdLife Australia.
The kookaburra chorus at dawn and dusk
The laugh is a territorial call. The Australian Museum describes it as a loud "koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-kaa-kaa-kaa", often given as a chorus with other birds. One bird starts and the rest of the family joins in, telling the neighbours the patch is taken. A group across the street often answers, and for a minute the whole of Beach Road sounds like it is laughing at a joke you missed.
At Seacrest 7 the chorus usually came just before first light, and again in the late afternoon. If you are an early riser, take your coffee out to the balcony and wait for it.
How kookaburras hunt
Kookaburras hunt by sitting still. They choose a perch with a clear view, wait, then drop onto prey on the ground. Birds in Backyards lists insects, worms and crustaceans as the main diet, with small snakes, mammals, frogs and birds also taken. Small prey is swallowed whole. Larger prey is bashed against a branch or the ground before it is eaten, which is a surprisingly loud thing to witness up close.
That is also why they like balconies and fence lines. A rail two metres above a lawn or a garden bed is a good place to watch for movement below.
Please don't feed the kookaburras
It is tempting, especially when a bird lands a metre away and looks straight at you. Feeding them does more harm than good. Penrith City Council's guidance on feeding native birds explains that raw meat lacks calcium and is high in phosphorus, which leads to dietary imbalance and deficiencies, and that processed food leads to weight problems. Mince, bread and barbecue scraps all fall into those categories.
Birds that are fed also lose their wariness and can start snatching food from plates and hands. Keep the barbecue covered, clear the table after meals and let them hunt. Watching them catch something themselves is much better anyway.
Are kookaburras declining?
They are common, but researchers are keeping an eye on them. In 2015 BirdLife Australia's ecologists found a decline in how often laughing kookaburras were recorded across south-east Australia, using survey data from 1998 to 2014. Three years of backyard bird count data from the eastern capital cities, from 2014 to 2016, pointed the same way. The suspected causes are loss of nesting hollows and possibly less prey as cities change, as BirdLife's researchers wrote in The Conversation.
You can help by counting. The Aussie Bird Count runs each October. In 2025 more than 64,000 people counted 5 million birds, and the laughing kookaburra did not make the national top 10. If you are at Hawks Nest during the count, twenty minutes on the balcony is a useful contribution.
Other birds you will hear from Seacrest 7
The kookaburras were not alone. Rainbow lorikeets screeched through the flowering trees, and in the late afternoon we heard yellow-tailed black cockatoos. NSW National Parks describes their call as a "kee-ow" that sounds like a rusty gate, and they are easy to pick by the yellow panels in the tail and the yellow cheek patch. Pelicans and sea-eagles work the river on the other side of town.
A long weekend at Seacrest 7
The birds were the surprise. The sound of the surf was the constant. Seacrest 7 sits on Beach Road with the Bennetts Beach track across the street, and at night the waves are loud enough that the doors sometimes hum with them. It is unbelievable how well you sleep to it. We found it good for slowing down too: switching off while staying connected to where you are, whether that is a morning meditation on the balcony or just sitting with the sound for ten minutes before bed.
Room for the family. Seacrest 7 sleeps six across two bedrooms, and it is well set up for families with kids, from the full kitchen to the shared pool in the gated grounds.
A kitchen worth cooking in. The kitchen is fully equipped and open plan, with a view out while you cook, and a shelf of cookbooks from well-known chefs if you need ideas. On Saturday morning we went to the organic market in town and came back with fresh fruit, local cheese, eggs, meat and a jar of locally made tomato pasta sauce, which became dinner.
Dinner, inside or out. You can eat at the table inside or take dinner out to the side balcony. It works as well for a romantic night for two as it does for a family meal, with the surf in the background either way.
Quiet on a busy weekend. Seacrest 7 is a corner apartment, so even on a long weekend, with Hawks Nest full, it never felt crowded.
Tips for watching kookaburras at Hawks Nest
Go early. The dawn chorus is the best show of the day. Late afternoon is a close second.
Sit still. Kookaburras are used to people and will often land close if you stay quiet.
Look for the group. If you see one, look along the same branch or rail. There are usually two to four more.
Watch, don't feed. No mince, bread or scraps, however hopeful they look.
Bring the camera, not the drone. A phone on the balcony gets you close enough.
Spring is busy. From August to January you may see adults carrying food to a nest hollow, and young birds learning to hunt later in the season.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see kookaburras at Hawks Nest? Almost anywhere with trees and open ground: backyards, the streets near Bennetts Beach, the edges of the golf course and the bush tracks toward Myall Lakes National Park. At Seacrest 7 they come to the balcony.
When do kookaburras laugh? Mostly around dawn and dusk, when family groups call to mark their territory, but you will hear them at any time of day.
How big is a laughing kookaburra? Up to 46 centimetres long and about 340 grams, which makes it the largest kingfisher in Australia.
Is it OK to feed kookaburras? No. Raw meat and processed food upset their diet, and fed birds can become bold around people. Let them hunt for themselves.
How many people does Seacrest 7 sleep? Six, across two bedrooms, with one bathroom, a private balcony and a shared pool.
This is general information based on our own experience. Conditions change. Check Beachsafe, SharkSmart and NSW National Parks alerts before you go, and follow lifesavers' directions on the day.
Plan your stay
If you would like a balcony seat for the kookaburras, the live calendar for Seacrest 7 shows open dates. Bigger group? Tilly and Annies Place sleeps six across three bedrooms, a short walk from both beaches.
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