White-winged Triller
Male Back, Crossover Plumage
Ellura
White-winged Triller
Male Profile, Breeding Plumage
 
                      
White-winged Triller (Lalage sueurii)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Birds (Aves)
Order: Perching Birds (Passeriformes)
Family: Cuckoo-shrike (Campephagidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: White-winged Triller (Lalage sueurii)
This Photo:     Male Back, Breeding Plumage
Synonym: Lalage tricolor
Other names: Caterpillar-eater, Jardine Triller or White-shouldered Triller

Thank you Antoni Camozzato, Andrew Allen & Jack Morgan for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
A seasonal traveller through our parts. Much smaller and whiter than a magpie, so it's easy to differentiate.
However, the males change their plumage, making them difficult to identify in the "off" season.
When not in their breeding colours, they have what's called "Eclipse" plumage; which is brown.
It took us a while to work out what was going one with one sighting, when we realised the bird was in the cross-over phase between the Eclipse & Breeding plumage. So nearly black and white with some brown dappling. We've never see the males in exclipse plumage here, probably as they have already starting getting their breeding colours before they arrive.

Copyright © 2013-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 08-Sep-2013
This species is classed as NT (Near Threatened) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)