An avid birdwatcher was left astounded after a ‘striking orange’ kookaburra flew into her backyard.
The woman took to Facebook to share the photos of the odd looking native bird on Wednesday, asking fellow admirers about how the bright tinge may have made its way onto its feathers.
‘[I have] a number of kookaburras who visit each morning,’ the woman wrote.
‘This one is the only one whose feathers appear quite a striking orange colour.’
A kookaburra with a ‘striking’ orange colouring was spotted in the backyard of an avid bird admirer
The woman thought the colouring may have been from rolling in ‘clay soil’ but wildlife ecologist Sarah Legge revealed that may just be its natural colour
It’s been sporting the unusual colouring for about a year, she added.
At first, the birdlover thought the hue may have come from the kookaburra ‘rolling in clay soil’.
Wildlife ecologist Sarah Legge revealed it was common behaviour for most birds.
‘Lots of birds, including kookaburras, roll around in the dirt,’ she told Yahoo News .
‘We think it helps get rid of parasites.’
This may turn the feathers slightly darker, but Legge added she’d never seen it the colouring so extreme.
Kookaburra’s are native to with the starkness of the white feathers varying between birds
‘I’ve seen some kookaburras get that kind of buffy colour, but never as spectacular as what this photograph suggests,’ she continued.
If the colour remains for over a year it may not be the dirt at all, as the starkness of the whiteness in a kookaburra’s feathers vary for each bird.
‘It sounds like it really is that colour. Lucky bird,’ Legge said.
Many fellow bird admirers were left in awe by the discovery with many agreeing they’d ‘never seen one that colour’ before.
Another wrote: ‘It’s beautiful’, with a third adding ‘He is so adorable.’
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An Aussie expat has snapped a photo of a kookaburra for sale in a pet shop on Long Island, New York (pictured, the tiny cage home to the Aussie native bird)