Norfolk triller

The Norfolk triller (Lalage leucopyga leucopyga) was a small passerine bird in the cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae. It is the extinct nominate subspecies of the long-tailed triller which was endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. Little is known of its biology.

Norfolk triller
Illustration by Henrik Gronvold
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Campephagidae
Genus: Lalage
Species:
L. leucopyga
Subspecies:
L. l. leucopyga
Trinomial name
Lalage leucopyga leucopyga
(Gould, 1838)

Description
Illustration by Georg Forster from the 1770s

The Norfolk triller was similar to other subspecies of the long-tailed triller, though it was slightly larger and had a richer buff wash on the underparts and rump and a broader white tip to the outer rectrices.[1]

Behaviour

Breeding

Breeding was recorded in September, with eggs in December and February. Nests were shallow and cup-shaped, made of lichen, moss and fibrous roots, and lined with finer material. The clutch was usually two eggs.[1]

Extinction

The triller was last recorded in 1942. The cause of its extinction was probably predation by black rats combined with clearance of its habitat, Norfolk Island's native subtropical rainforest.[1]

There are specimens of this bird held in the museums at Leiden, Vienna, Tring and in the H. L. White Collection at Melbourne.[1][2]

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References
  1. Higgins, P.J.; Cowlin, SJ (2006). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. p. 353. ISBN 0-19-553996-6.
  2. Naturalis: Campephagidae - Norfolk Long-tailed Triller
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