Lalage leucomela
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The varied triller (Lalage leucomela) like its better-known relative the white-winged triller, is a smaller member of the cuckoo-shrike family, Campephagidae. Varied trillers prefer warm, reasonably moist environments and are found in New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, along much of the tropical and sub-tropical coastal hinterland of eastern Australia, from about the Sydney area to the tip of Cape York Peninsula, in the moister part of the Kimberley, and throughout the Top End.
Common to very common in the north, they are uncommon to rare in the colder south. Typical habitat is rainforest, vine forest, riverine thickets, eucalypt forest and woodland, with a particular preference for the border areas between closed and open forests.
Varied trillers work their way slowly and methodically through foliage at any level (sometimes on the ground), searching in pairs or small groups for insects and fruit, and making repeated rolling contact calls almost continuously.
An alternative name is Pied Caterpillar-eater (Karua Leucomela) The Mussau triller (L. conjuncta) was formerly considered a subspecies. ABID Images On the HBW Internet... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Triller sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 626 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 41st most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, May–August and October–November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Triller in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 20% in April and December, the lowest months. February has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Varied Triller sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Varied Triller sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Litchfield National Park (Australia, about 50%) and Daintree National Park (Australia, about 50%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Varied Triller is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (626 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
