What a thriller – it’s a White-winged Triller
White-winged Triller (male)
I had just hung out the washing this morning and was on my way back inside. A different bird call drew my attention so I raced inside for the camera and binoculars. Sure enough, we had a male White-winged Triller in our small patch of mallee scrub. This species is an irregular visitor here, usually in the spring or summer.
White-winged Trillers can be seen throughout most of mainland Australia and northern Tasmania. In my experience they are widespread but not common, and certainly not found in large numbers, usually seen singly or in pairs. They also occur in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. They are a breeding migrant in the southern parts of the country. In the winter months they spend time in the northern and inland regions.
The call is a rich, far reaching, descending ‘chip-chip-chip-joey-joey-joey.’
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White-winged Triller (male)
White-winged Triller (male)
Must be great to see an infrequent visitor on such a nice day!
Whoops!! All thumbs. lol
Must be nice to see an infrequent visitor on a lovely day like today.
It is indeed, my friend.
And what a lovely day it is – compared to some recently!
Pity I’m largely confined indoors trying to finish off my novel. Up to 31,000 words and going strongly. (Target 40k)
[…] What a thriller – it’s a White-winged Triller […]
Well, my wife & I independantly heard a very different bird call yesterday afternoon. We live at Medindie Gardens which is about 1 mile from the Adelaide parklands.On investigation and taking a video we consulted my father’s Australian Birds book and believe the bird is what looks like White-winged Triller (male). In 5 years here have not seen a bird like this before. The little fella was out bright and early this morning calling in his very distinct call causing the honey eater population to attempt to drive him away.
Hi there Bevan,
There have been many reports of WW Trillers throughout the southern parts of Australia in recent weeks. This is quite normal for spring time as they migrate south. What is interesting though is that they are turning up further south than usual – could be in response to the good rains of recent weeks. There have been other reports of them in Adelaide suburbs. All the same – a very good sighting.
[…] triller is interesting because they make communal nests, sometimes in a large colony (picture here). They eat mostly insects, both flying and on the ground. Excellent. We want them to eat more […]