White-shouldered Triller
Encyclopedia
The White-shouldered Triller (Lalage sueurii) is a passerine
bird
belonging to the triller
genus Lalage in the cuckoo-shrike
family Campephagidae. It is found in Indonesia
and East Timor
. The White-winged Triller
(L. tricolor) of Australia
and New Guinea
was formerly included in this species but is now treated as a separate species.
It is a fairly small bird, 17 centimetres in length. The bill
is grey with a black tip and the legs and feet are black. The male is mainly black above and white below. It has a grey rump, white stripe over the eye, white wing-patches and white on the outer tail-feathers. Females have a similar pattern to the males but are brown instead of black above and have fine black barring on the underparts.
The Pied Triller
is similar but is slightly smaller with a broader stripe above the eye and more white in the wing. The male White-winged Triller has no white stripe over the eye.
The song
of the White-shouldered Triller is a metallic whistling which is sometimes given in flight. It also utters a rapid series of harsh notes.
It occurs in eastern Java
, southern Sulawesi
, Bali
and on the Lesser Sunda Islands
. It inhabits open woodland, savannas and agricultural land in dry, lowland areas. It feeds on insect
s, often swooping down from a perch to catch them on the ground.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
belonging to the triller
Triller (bird)
The trillers are a genus of passerine birds belonging to the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. Their name comes from the loud trilling calls of the males. There are about 12 species which occur in southern Asia and Australasia with a number of species on Pacific islands. They feed mainly on...
genus Lalage in the cuckoo-shrike
Cuckoo-shrike
The cuckooshrikes and allies in the Campephagidae family are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia...
family Campephagidae. It is found in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
. The White-winged Triller
White-winged Triller
The White-winged Triller is one of the smaller members of the Cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. It is found throughout mainland Australia and possibly on the islands to the north, including New Guinea and eastern Indonesia...
(L. tricolor) of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
was formerly included in this species but is now treated as a separate species.
It is a fairly small bird, 17 centimetres in length. The bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
is grey with a black tip and the legs and feet are black. The male is mainly black above and white below. It has a grey rump, white stripe over the eye, white wing-patches and white on the outer tail-feathers. Females have a similar pattern to the males but are brown instead of black above and have fine black barring on the underparts.
The Pied Triller
Pied Triller
The Pied Triller is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family.It is found in Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.-References:...
is similar but is slightly smaller with a broader stripe above the eye and more white in the wing. The male White-winged Triller has no white stripe over the eye.
The song
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
of the White-shouldered Triller is a metallic whistling which is sometimes given in flight. It also utters a rapid series of harsh notes.
It occurs in eastern Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, southern Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
and on the Lesser Sunda Islands
Lesser Sunda Islands
The Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara are a group of islands in the southern Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands...
. It inhabits open woodland, savannas and agricultural land in dry, lowland areas. It feeds on insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, often swooping down from a perch to catch them on the ground.