The white-winged triller (''Lalage tricolor'') is one of the smaller members of the cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae. It is found throughout mainland

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and possibly on the islands to the north, including

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and eastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is resident or nomadic over the warmer part of its range (inland Australia and points north), and a summer breeding migrant to the cooler southern parts of Australia. White-winged trillers are fairly common in woodland, and open scrub through most of their range, and close to riverbeds in the central arid zone. The conspicuous male bird—black above and white below in breeding plumage—trills cheerfully through much of the day during the breeding season (mid-spring to early summer), frequently rising on fluttering wings in song flight. The female is similarly patterned but in dull fawns and white. In the non-breeding season, male birds appear similar to the female, retaining blackish feathers only on the wings and tail. Typically 16 to 18 cm long, white-winged trillers eat a variety of insects, which are taken on the ground, from foliage, or in the air. The correct classification of the white-winged triller and its close northern relative, the

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'') of eastern Indonesia is uncertain. Some authorities regard them as two races of a single

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, in which case the white-winged triller becomes ''Lalage sueurii tricolor''.

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References

External links

ABID Images

On the HBW Internet Bird Collection
white-winged triller Birds of Australia white-winged triller {{campephagidae-stub