mdahlem.net WWW

Aust birds    Bird names   News   1-26    Habitats    Key plants    Glossary    Plumage    Nests    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Sponsors    Photos for sale
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14	15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   W   Y

22

White-winged Triller (Lalage tricolor [sueurii]) Alternate name(s): "White-shouldered Caterpillar-eater", "Peewee-lark" Aboriginal name(s): "koomolkolong" (WA) Size: 16-19 cm Weight: 20-32 g

Australia: Family Group 22 Family Group 22 Table White-winged Triller Varied Triller Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Barred Cuckoo-shrike Ground Cuckoo-shrike Cicadabird (Australasian) Yellow Oriole Olive-backed Oriole Figbird White-breasted Woodswallow Masked Woodswallow White-browed Woodswallow Black-faced Woodswallow Dusky Woodswallow Little Woodswallow Black Butcherbird Grey Butcherbird Pied Butcherbird Australian Magpie Grey Currawong Pied Currawong Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description White-winged Trillers are small bushland birds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. In addition, males have different breeding and eclipse plumages. During the breeding season, male White-winged Trillers have a black top of the head, nape of the neck and mantle. The wings are also black, with wide white shoulder bars and white edge lining. The rump is grey, the tail is black, with a white tip. The entire front, from the lower sides of the head and the throat to the undertail coverts, is all-white. In eclipse, the formerly black parts of male White-winged Trillers (crown, nape of the neck, mantle, wing bars) turn brownish-grey. The sides of the head turn whitish, except for narrow black lores and eye-stripes. Female White-winged Trillers are much more inconspicuous than males. Although their plumage has roughly the same morphology as males in eclipse, their colours are much duller. They are greyish-brown throughout, except for a more greyish throat patch and off-white belly, vent and undertail coverts and darker brown eye-stripes compared to the rest of the face. The flight feathers and the tail are darker brownish-grey than the rest of their plumage. Only the rump is light-grey in both sexes. Immature White-winged Trillers resemble females.

Taxonomy, classification See White-winged Triller at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the White-winged Triller is available HERE . White-winged Trillers used to be endemic to Australia, but have in recent times also been reported from southern New Guinea. In Australia they populate almost the entire continent. They are found only rarely at the tip of Cape York peninsula and in the most arid parts the country (the major deserts in the eastern half of WA and South of the Kimberley). During the breeding season they are found only in the western half of WA, in the Kimberley and the Top End of the NT, plus the south-eastern quarter of the continent. White-winged Trillers can be found in various types of habitat, from closed forest to open plains with scattered trees, including farmland with scattered trees.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Although we know that they were around for an extended period of time, we saw White-winged Trillers only rarely 20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, in 2003-2006. In the same period, we also occasionally found them 20 km West of Narrabri. Next we spotted White-winged Trillers in September 2007, at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri. Since then we see them semi-regularly, e.g. in Deriah Aboriginal Area, 30 km East of Narrabri, on the western fringes of Mt. Kaputar NP. Since then they are seen by us in north-western inland NSW annually. A single White-winged Triller was spotted by us in the Flinders Ranges, SA, in March 2008. R. Plumtree reports spotting White-winged Trillers at Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in November 2013. H. Mouritsen reports spotting White-winged Trillers in various locations in and around Darwin, NT, in October 2015. J. Greaves reports spotting a male White-winged Triller at Boolardy Station, Murchison, WA, in August 2016.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

BREEDING

Frontal portrait of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Frontal portrait of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage; a few remaining grey-brown feathers are still visible on the crown
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Frontal view of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2008]

Near-frontal view of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2011]

Lateral view of the same White-winged Triller as shown above
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2011]

Close-up lateral view of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Lateral view of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Lateral view of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage, hunting for insects
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Lateral view of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage in grassland (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2013]

This is the male White-winged Triller whose calls were recorded on 18 November 2014
[Near Narrabri, NSW, November 2014]

Dorsal view of a male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2008]

Male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage marking its territory - this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 26 October 2016
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2016]

Male White-winged Triller in breeding plumage marking its territory; more lateral view - this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 26 October 2016
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2016]

NON-BREEDING

Frontal view of a male White-winged Triller in transitional plumage; the leading edges of the wings are already black, but the head has not moulted yet
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Frontal view of a male White-winged Triller in transitional plumage; nothing distinguishes it from full breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2011]

Lateral view of a male White-winged Triller moulting into breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Frontal view of a male White-winged Triller in non-breeding plumage

Lateral view of a male White-winged Triller in non-breeding plumage
[Near Narrabri, NSW, September 2007]

Lateral view of a male White-winged Triller in non-breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, August 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a male White-winged Triller in non-breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, August 2017]

Dorsal view of a male White-winged Triller in non-breeding plumage
[Eulah Creek, NSW, August 2017]

FEMALE

Frontal portrait of a female White-winged Triller
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Near-lateral portrait of a female White-winged Triller
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Lateral portrait of a female White-winged Triller
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Frontal view of a female White-winged Triller
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2016]

Close-up lateral view of a female White-winged Triller
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Lateral view of a female White-winged Triller
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2013]

Ventral view of a female White-winged Triller
[Near Narrabri, NSW, October 2014]

Pair of White-winged Trillers in a paddock, foraging on the ground; the male is seen at the lower left
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, October 2006]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a immature White-winged Triller
[Near Narrabri, NSW, September 2007]

Lateral view of a immature White-winged Triller
[Near Narrabri, NSW, September 2007]

Lateral view of an immature White-winged Triller
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, 2006]

Lateral view of what looks like a female, possibly still immature, White-winged Triller
[Eulah Creek, NSW, March 2008]

Juvenile White-winged Triller on a fence; this bird was waiting to be fed by its parents
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, 2006]

Juvenile White-winged Triller (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Moree, NSW, January 2011]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Feb

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: 14 days

Fledging age: 13 - 15 days

The breeding season of White-winged Trillers depends significantly on geographical latitude. In the tropical North they may breed at the end of the wet season. Given the right conditions White-winged Trillers can breed any time of the year.

Nest building: Female & male

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "malunna" = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Bowl

Material: Grass, rootlets, webs

Height above ground: 2 - 10 m

View from below of a White-winged Triller nest in a rough-barked Acacia salicina tree; note that this nest is unusual in several respects - it is NOT placed on a fork, it is not as shallow as reported in field guides, and it is well-hidden in dense foliage, rather than in the open on a fork of a dead branch; this nest was constructed under the "umbrella" of a Magpie-lark nest
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2016]

Female White-winged Triller working on its well-hidden nest, with the male in attendance
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2016]

Male White-winged Triller helping with the construction of the nest
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2016]

Male White-winged Triller "harvesting" a spider's web for use in binding its nest
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2011]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 21 x 15 mm

Colour: Light-brown, with many large dark-brown patches

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal/territorial

Mobility: N sedentary, S migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Male White-winged Trillers use vantage points to issue their calls so as to be heard from afar. Obviously, they cannot do this all day long, but need to feed in the meantime. While feeding they also intersperse periods of singing, see photos below.

White-winged Trillers are semi-colonial breeders. Several pairs can nest close to each other, but they have separate territories for foraging. However, we have also observed both males and females of different pairs forage together in a small area during the breeding season.

White-winged Triller singing from a high vantage point; this is a point where the bird sits purely to be heard
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2011]

Here the same White-winged Triller as above is foraging for insects in a black pine tree, but also puts in some more effort into attracting a female
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2011]

Male White-winged Triller spreading its wings while taking a shower
[Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2014]

Male White-winged Triller having a shower under a garden sprinkler, raising its mantle and rump feathers
[Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2014]

Male White-winged Triller raising its mantle and rump feathers
[Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2014]

Food, Diet

White-winged Trillers usually hunt insects in flight, but will take them from foliage or the ground as well.

Male White-winged Triller drinking by taking droplets from grass
[Eulah Creek, NSW, January 2014]

Female White-winged Triller with its prey, a larva
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

This female White-winged Triller was seen foraging in a Calistemon (bottlebrush) tree together with at least two males
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2015]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

wwtrill_20140116_3.mp3	(NW NSW)	Territorial call (male)	© MD
wwtrill_20141118_2.mp3	(NW NSW)	Territorial call (male)	© MD
wwtrill_20161026_2.mp3	(NW NSW)	Territorial calls (male)	© MD
wwtrill_20161026.mp3	(NW NSW)	Territorial calls (male) (with background)	© MD
wwtrill_20150913.mp3	(NW NSW)	Territorial call (2 males)	© MD
wwtrill_20150911.mp3	(NW NSW)	Territorial calls (2 males)	© MD
wwtrill_20140116.mp3	(NW NSW)	Abbreviated territorial call (male)	© MD
wwtrill_20140303.mp3	(NW NSW)	Various (male)	© MD
wwtrill_20141006.mp3	(NW NSW)	?	© MD
wwtrill_20141119.mp3	(NW NSW)	?	© MD

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us:          Last updated: 6 Sep. 2017.