Samoan Triller
Lalage sharpei
A rather long-tailed and long-winged bird with a short stubby head, similar in proportions to a small cuckooshrike. Rather plain light-brown above and pale white below, faintly barred with brown. Bill distinctively bright orange, with a white beady eye. Found above 200 meters of elevation in primary and secondary forest. Voice includes a thin, weak descending trill, or five clear “twee-twee-twee-twee-twee” notes.
Identification
The Samoan triller is a bird with a length of about 13 cm, smaller than its relative, the Polynesian triller. There is no sexual dimorphism in Samoan trillers, with both sexes possessing similar plumage, a yellow bill, and white iris. The upperparts of the plumage range from a brown to a grey-brown. The underparts, chest, and throat are white, with faint brown bars present on the bird's flanks.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Lalage sharpei
- Authority
- Rothschild, 1900
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Campephagidae
- Genus
- Lalage
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Cracticus torquatus
Medium-sized ambush-hunter with a long gray bill with a dark, hooked tip. Black head and face with a white nape and throat. Upperparts dark gray, with white rump, mostly black wings (limited white), and black tail with narrow white tip. Rollicking, chuckling song.
Bonaparte's Nightjar
Caprimulgus concretus
Small dark-brown nightjar of lowland forests. Bright white bib often noticeable. Male has silvery-white tips to the outer tail feathers; both sexes lack white in the wings. Nocturnal and extremely rarely encountered by day, when it roosts in thick, tangled foliage. Frequently hawks from a perch. Listen for its strange, mooing moan: “wuoOOOhwwhh”.
Melanesian Megapode
Megapodius eremita
A large-bodied, small-headed bird of odd proportions. Plumage is mostly dark, with dark legs and a dark head, but in good light shows a yellowish bill and reddish bare skin on the forehead with a very short light gray crest. Can be found in a variety of habitats, but prefers tall forest with an open understory. Often tame and approachable around settlements. Separable in the field from New Guinea Scrubfowl by much plainer dark plumage, smaller crest, and less extensive red on the head. Very vocal and loud, especially in the morning and evening, giving strange warbling catlike cries, “ME-ow, meow,” with the first note being higher pitched than the rest.
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