Did you define kookaburra as "a laughing jackass" or something like "a bird that is a laughing jackass"? It's hard to believe that you teacher wouldn't have known the kookaburra is a bird.

Still, imagine some chortling yokel taking a deep dive and someone in the crowd watching him saying, "That merganser is a kookaburra."

See, Faldage? We understand each other!