The trillers are a group of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s belonging to the

cuckooshrike The cuckooshrikes and allies in the family Campephagidae are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia. The 93 species are divided into 11 genera. The woodshrikes (''Tephrodorn ...

family Campephagidae partially making up the genus '' Lalage''. Their name come from the loud trilling calls of the males. There are about 12 species that usually exist in southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

with a number of species in

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

islands. They feed mainly on insects and fruit. They build a neat cup-shaped

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

high in trees. Trillers are fairly small birds, about 15 to 20 cm long. They are mainly black, grey and white in colour. Most species are fairly common but the Samoan triller is considered to be

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

and the

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

subspecies of the

long-tailed triller The long-tailed triller (''Lalage leucopyga'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The Norfolk Island subspecies of the long-tailed triller, the Norfolk triller, has becom ...

has gone

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Extant species

Black-and-white triller The black-and-white triller (''Lalage melanoleuca'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an area of land dom ...

, ''Lalage melanoleuca'' *

Pied triller The pied triller (''Lalage nigra'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officia ...

, ''Lalage nigra'' * White-rumped triller, ''Lalage leucopygialis'' *

White-shouldered triller The white-shouldered triller (''Lalage sueurii'') is a passerine bird belonging to the Lalage (bird), triller genus ''Lalage'' in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. It is found in Indonesia and East Timor. The white-winged triller (''L. tric ...

, ''Lalage sueurii'' * White-winged triller, ''Lalage tricolor'' *

Rufous-bellied triller The rufous-bellied triller (''Lalage aurea'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is Endemism, endemic to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Its natural habitats are Subtropics, subtropical or Tropics, tropical moist lowland forest ...

, ''Lalage aurea'' *

White-browed triller The white-browed triller (''Lalage moesta'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Indonesia, where it occurs in the Tanimbar Islands. References

Lalage (bird), white-browed triller Birds of the Tan ...

, ''Lalage moesta'' *

Black-browed triller The black-browed triller (''Lalage atrovirens'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in northern New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an area of land dom ...

, ''Lalage atrovirens'' * Varied triller, ''Lalage leucomela'' * Mussau triller, ''Lalage conjuncta'' *

Polynesian triller The Polynesian triller (''Lalage maculosa'') is a passerine bird belonging to the triller genus ''Lalage'' in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. It has numerous subspecies distributed across the islands of the south-west Pacific. It is 15 t ...

, ''Lalage maculosa'' * Samoan triller, ''Lalage sharpei'' *

Long-tailed triller The long-tailed triller (''Lalage leucopyga'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The Norfolk Island subspecies of the long-tailed triller, the Norfolk triller, has becom ...

, ''Lalage leucopyga'' **

Norfolk triller The Norfolk triller (''Lalage leucopyga leucopyga'') was a small passerine bird in the cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae. It is the extinct nominate subspecies of the long-tailed triller which was endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian terr ...

, ''Lalage leucopyga leucopyga''

References

*Perrins, Christopher, ''ed.'' (2004) ''The New Encyclopedia of Birds'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. Bird common names {{Campephagidae-stub