''Lalage'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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, many of which are commonly known as

triller The trillers are a group of passerine birds belonging to the cuckooshrike 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 ...

s. There are about 18 species which occur 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 on

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 a tree. They 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

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

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 become

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

The genus now includes six species that were formerly assigned to the genus ''

Coracina ''Coracina'' is a large genus of birds in the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae. The genus was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816. The type species was subsequently designated as the white-bellied cuckoosh ...

''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2010 found that the species form part of the clade that contain members of the genus ''Lalage''. The genus contains 20 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, ''Lalage sueurii'' * White-winged triller, ''Lalage tricolor'' * Rufous-bellied triller, ''Lalage aurea'' * White-browed triller, ''Lalage moesta'' * Black-browed triller, ''Lalage atrovirens'' * Biak triller, ''Lalage leucoptera'' * 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'' * Black-winged cuckooshrike, ''Lalage melaschistos'' *

Black-headed cuckooshrike The black-headed cuckooshrike (''Lalage melanoptera'') is a species of cuckooshrike found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Gallery Image:Black-headed Cuckooshrike (Coracina melanoptera) at Sindhrot near Vadodara, Gujrat Pix 108.j ...

, ''Lalage melanoptera'' * Indochinese cuckooshrike, ''Lalage polioptera'' * Lesser cuckooshrike, ''Lalage fimbriata'' *

Mauritius cuckooshrike The Mauritius cuckooshrike (''Lalage typica'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is endemic to Mauritius. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat de ...

, ''Lalage typica'' * Reunion cuckooshrike, ''Lalage newtoni''

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Lalage'': *

Buff-bellied monarch The buff-bellied monarch (''Neolalage banksiana'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Neolalage''. It is endemic to Vanuatu, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest ...

(as ''L. banksiana'') *

Black-throated shrikebill The black-throated shrikebill or black-faced shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus nigrogularis'') is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. It is found in Fiji and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland fo ...

(as ''L. nigrogularis'')

References

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