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 th ...

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 lightweig ...

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 ('' Tephrodor ...

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 ...

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 ecolo ...

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 materi ...

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 inv ...

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 w ...

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 beco ...

has gone extinct.

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, ''Lalage sueurii'' *

White-winged triller The white-winged triller (''Lalage tricolor'') is one of the smaller members of the cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae. It is found throughout mainland Australia and possibly on the islands to the north, including New Guinea and eastern Indonesi ...

, ''Lalage tricolor'' * Rufous-bellied triller, ''Lalage aurea'' * White-browed triller, ''Lalage moesta'' * Black-browed triller, ''Lalage atrovirens'' *

Varied triller The varied triller (''Lalage leucomela'') like its better-known relative the white-winged triller, is a smaller member of the cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. Varied trillers prefer warm, reasonably moist environments and are found in New Gu ...

, ''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 1 ...

, ''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 beco ...

, ''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 ter ...

, ''Lalage leucopyga leucopyga''

References

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