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| Photo by Tony Ashton (Tyto Tony) |
Common name:
white-winged triller (en); lagarteiro d’asa branca (pt); échenilleur tricolore (fr); gorjeador de alas blancas (es); weißflügel-lalage (de)
Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae
Range:
This species is endemic to Australia, being found throughout the Australian mainland and in northern Tasmania.
Size:
These birds are 17-19 cm long and weigh 26 g.
Habitat:
The white-winged triller is found in dry savannas and forests, tree-lined waterways in semi-arid regions, dry scrublands and also in arable land and within urban areas.
Diet:
They hawk flying insects in the air, but will also forage on the ground taking insects, fruits and seeds. They are also known to eat nectar.
Breeding:
White-winged trillers breed in September-December. They nest in colonies with many nests in the same tree. Each nest is a small cup made of bark, grasses and spider webs, placed in an horizontal branch or fork in a tree. They sometimes may use the empty nests of other birds, favouring the mud nests of magpie larks Grallina cyanoleuca. The female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both parents for 14 days. The chicks are raised by both parents and fledge 12 days after hatching.
Conservation:
IUCN status – LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is reported to be often common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.
