Australia is home to around 850 native bird species, but not all are equally adored — a truth captured in one remarkable photo taken last week on the NSW North Coast.

While relaxing with a beer in his backyard, gardener Kim Hogno spotted a laughing kookaburra clutching an unexpected snack: the lifeless body of a noisy miner. He quickly snapped a photo, unaware it would stir thousands of reactions online.

“It blew me out a bit,” Hogno said, reflecting on the flood of comments after sharing the image. While kookaburras are famously bold eaters — often feeding on snakes, frogs, and small mammals — it wasn’t the size of this meal that grabbed attention. Instead, many celebrated the fact the victim was a noisy miner, a species some Aussies view as a backyard bully.

“Well, that shut him up,” one commenter quipped. Others cheered the bird on with, “Go kooka!”

But why the disdain for the noisy miner?

Birdlife Australia’s Sean Dooley suggests the animosity stems from confusion. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding between the native noisy miner and the introduced common myna,” he told Yahoo News. Despite their similar names and somewhat alike appearances, the noisy miner is a native honeyeater, while the common myna is an introduced species often blamed for disrupting ecosystems.

Yet perception matters. The noisy miner’s aggressive behavior toward smaller birds, particularly in areas where understorey vegetation is lacking, hasn’t helped its public image. Studies have shown they dominate where there’s little low-cover foliage, making it harder for other bird species to survive — a dynamic that nudges public sentiment against them birdsinbackyards.net.

Meanwhile, the laughing kookaburra, iconic for its chuckling call and stoic perch-hunting technique, remains one of Australia’s most beloved native birds. Known to pair for life and take down everything from insects to small reptiles, it’s no surprise it swooped in for a meaty prize that day birdsinbackyards.net.

What began as a casual backyard moment has since become a snapshot of nature in action — and a surprising symbol of the complicated relationships between Australians and the feathered neighbours in their midst.