Monarch flycatcher

Themonarchs(familyMonarchidae) comprise a family of over 100passerinebirds which includesshrikebills,paradise flycatchers,andmagpie-larks.

Monarchidae
Mascarene paradise flycatcher(Terpsiphone bourbonnensis)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Superfamily:	Corvoidea
Family:	Monarchidae Bonaparte,1854
Subfamilies
Terpsiphoninae Monarchinae
Synonyms
GrallinidaeMayr,1950

Monarchids are smallinsectivoroussongbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland across sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia, Australasia, and a number of Pacific islands. Only a few species migrate. Many species decorate their cup-shaped nests with lichen.

Taxonomy

Some of the one hundred or morespeciesmaking up the family were previously assigned to other groups, largely on the basis of general morphology or behaviour. Themagpie-lark,for example, was assigned to the same family as thewhite-winged chough,since both build unusual nests from mud rather than vegetable matter. That family, Grallinidae, is now considered asynonymof Monarchidae. It was formerly considered to have four species. Themagpie-larkand thetorrent-larkwere moved into Monarchidae, into the genusGrallina,on the basis of molecular evidence.The white-winged chough and theapostlebirdwere assigned to the familyCorcoracidae.

With the new insights generated by theDNA-DNA hybridisationstudies ofSibleyand his co-workers toward the end of the 20th century, however, it became clear that these apparently unrelated birds were all descended from a common ancestor: the same crow-like ancestor that gave rise to thedrongos.On that basis they were previously included as a subfamily of theDicruridae,along with thefantails,although it is now treated at familial rank as Monarchidae.

More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat as the original concept of Corvida has provenparaphyletic.The narrower 'Core corvine' group now comprises the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarchs, drongos, and mud nest builders.

The monarchs are small to medium-sized insectivorouspasserines,many of which hunt byflycatching.

Taxonomic list

The monarch family has fifteen genera as follows:

FAMILY MONARCHIDAE

• SubfamilyTerpsiphoninae

  

  Indian paradise flycatchermale atAnanthagiri Hills,inRangareddy districtofAndhra Pradesh,India.

  • GenusHypothymis(4 species)
  • GenusTrochocercus(2 species)
  • GenusTerpsiphone– typical paradise flycatchers (17 species)
• SubfamilyMonarchinae
  • GenusChasiempis(3 species)
  • GenusPomarea(9 species of which 3 extinct)
  • GenusMayrornis(3 species)
  • GenusNeolalage– buff-bellied monarch
  • GenusClytorhynchus– shrikebills (5 species)
  • GenusMetabolus– Chuuk monarch
  • GenusSymposiachrus(23 species)
  • GenusMonarcha(9 species)

    

    Black-faced monarch

  • GenusCarterornis(4 species)
  • GenusArses(4 species)
  • GenusGrallina– magpie-larks (2 species)
  • GenusMyiagra– broad-billed flycatchers (20 species of which 1 extinct)

    

    Broad-billed flycatcher

Description

The monarchs are a diverse family ofpasserinebirds that are generally arboreal (with the exception of themagpie-larks). They are mostly slim birds and possess broadbills.The bills of some species are quite large and the heavy-set bills of theshrikebillsare used to probe dead wood and leaves.Theplumageof the family ranges from sombre, such as the almost monochromeblack monarch,to spectacular, as displayed by thegolden monarch.The tails are generally long and spectacularly so in the paradise flycatchers in the genusTerpsiphone.Sexual dimorphismin plumage can be subtle, as in thepaperbark flycatcher,where the female is identical to the male except for a slight buff on the throat; strikingly, in theChuuk monarch,where the male is almost entirely white and the female entirely black; or non-existent, as in theTahiti monarch.In some species, for example, theMalagasy paradise flycatcher,the males have two or more colour morphs.

Distribution and habitat

Thesatin flycatcheris fully migratory, breeding in southern Australia and migrating to northern Australia and New Guinea.

Femalepale-blue monarchon a nest constructed on forked branch

The monarchs have a mostly Old World distribution. In the western end of their range, they are distributed through sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and the islands of the tropical Indian Ocean. They also occur in South and Southeastern Asia, north to Japan, down toNew Guinea,and most of Australia. The family has managed to reach many Pacific islands, and several endemic genera occur acrossMicronesia,Melanesia,andPolynesiaas far asHawaiiand theMarquesas.

The paradise flycatchers of the genusTerpsiphonehave the widest distribution of any of the monarchs, ranging across almost all of sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, theMascarenesandSeychelles,southern and eastern Asia as far as Korea, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and theLesser Sundas.The other paradise flycatcher genus,Trochocercus,is restricted to Africa. The other exclusively Asian genus is theHypothymismonarchs. The remaining genera are predominantly found in the Austro-Papuan and Oceania regions. A few monotypic genera are restricted to Pacific islands; these include the Chuuk monarch (Metabolus) in the Micronesian island ofChuuk,the HawaiianElepaio(Chasiempis), and thebuff-bellied monarch(Neolalage) which is restricted to the islands ofVanuatu.Other Pacific genera are the shrikebills (Clytorhynchus) and theMayrornismonarchs, both of which are found in Melanesia and west Polynesia, and thePomareamonarchs, which are exclusively Polynesian in origin.

The majority of the family is found in forests and woodland habitats. Species that live in more open woodlands tend to live in the higher levels of the trees but, in denser forest, live in the middle and lower levels. Other habitats used by the monarchs include savannahs and mangroves, and the terrestrial magpie-lark occurs in most Australian habitats except the driest deserts.

While the majority of monarchs are resident, a few species are partiallymigratoryand one, thesatin flycatcher,is fully migratory, although theJapanese paradise flycatcheris almost entirely migratory. TheAfrican paradise flycatchermakes a series of poorly understood intra-African migratory movements.

Breeding

The monarchs are generallymonogamous,with the pair bonds ranging from just a single season (as in the African paradise flycatcher) to life (theElepaio). Only three species are known to engage in cooperative breeding, but many species are as yet unstudied. They are generallyterritorial,defending territories that are around 2 ha in size, but a few species may cluster theirnesting sitesclosely together. Nesting sites may also be chosen close to aggressive species. For example,leaden flycatchers' nests may be located near the nests of the aggressivenoisy friarbird.The nests are in turn often aggressively defended by monarch species. In all species, the nest is an open cup on a branch, fork, or twig. In some species, the nests can be highly conspicuous.

References

• del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D., eds. (2006).Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers.Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.ISBN84-96553-06-X.

External links

• Monarch flycatcher videoson the Internet Bird Collection