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 in southern Asia and Australasia with a number of species in Pacific islands. They feed mainly on insects and fruit. They build a neat cup-shaped nest high in trees.

Trillers
Male pied triller (Lalage nigra)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Campephagidae
Genus: Lalage
Species

See text.

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 and the Norfolk Island subspecies of the long-tailed triller has gone extinct.

Taxonomy and systematics

Extant species

References

    • Perrins, Christopher, ed. (2004) The New Encyclopedia of Birds, Oxford University Press, Oxford.


    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.