Bird watching in Tonga - 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 15 to 16 cm long. The plumage varies geographically; some populations are contrastingly black and white while others have more grey or brown coloration.

It is a noisy bird with a nasal, rasping call. The song is short and high-pitched.

The breeding range extends through Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu and the Santa Cruz Islands. It occurs in a wide variety of habitats including man-made habitats such as plantations and gardens. It feeds on insects such as caterpillars and also feeds on fruit.

The cup-shaped nest is placed in the fork of a tree branch. One or two eggs are laid; these are greenish with brown blotches.

Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net

www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there

The breeding range extends through Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu and the Santa Cruz Islands.

Listen to the Polynesian Triller

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recording equipment: Telinga pro 7 stereo dat mic, sound devices 702

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recording equipment: Telinga pro 7 stereo dat mic, sound devices 702

Conservation status

Least concern (IUCN 3.1)

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia