Chuckles’ story begins when a tree was felled, and in it was the nest of a laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) and three eggs. The three eggs were rescued and incubated to be raised by registered wildlife carer and zookeeper, Sue Smphier. Only one chick survived, Chuckles. Her story is a special one. Sue noticed that she wasn’t the only one showing Chuckles some interest. The local (unrelated) kookaburra family were too. They were trying to bring Chuckles food like they would with their own chicks, as well as teach her ‘their’ laugh. Each kookaburra family has their own dialect as it were. And as long as a chick doesn’t know it, other kookaburras can teach theirs.
So one day Sue decided to open the window and allow them to bring Chuckles food, which they did! Sue chose to then share Chuckles development and progress social media which inspired many people.

Chuckles is now living wild and free with her adoptive kookaburra family. In February 2021, Chuckles returned to Sue for a visit. This artwork is primarily referenced from video of that encounter, with the wooden railing she was sitting on swapped for a custom drawn in snowgum branch.

This piece was drawn exclusively in coloured pencil on A4 (approximately 21x29cm) Art Spectrum cold press cotton rag. This piece is available as limited number (25) prints, printed on archival quality eco friendly Hahnemuhle card. Each print comes hand signed and numbered, with it’s own unique Certificate of Authenticity. Print size without frame is approximately 8"x11" (A4). All prints are created using archival inks, with professional scanning and processing to ensure colour matching and detail captures the original piece right down to each pencil stroke and card texture.

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