Black-faced monarch

The black-faced monarch (Monarcha melanopsis) is a passerine bird in the family Monarchidae found along the eastern seaboard of Australia.

Black-faced monarch

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Monarchidae
Genus: Monarcha
Species:
M. melanopsis
Binomial name
Monarcha melanopsis
(Vieillot, 1818)
Synonyms[2]
  • Muscicapa melanopsis
  • Muscipeta carinata, Swainson, 1823
  • Monarcha melanopsis pallidus, Mathews, 1916

Taxonomy and systematics

The black-faced monarch was originally described as Muscicapa melanopsis by Louis Vieillot in 1818 from a specimen collected in New South Wales.[3] The species is now placed in the genus Monarcha that was introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827.[4][5] The specific name is from the Ancient Greek words melas "black" and ops "face".[6] English naturalist William Swainson described it in 1823 as Muscipeta carinata, or "keel-billed flycatcher",[7] unaware of Viellot's earlier description.[6] In his 1848 work The Birds of Australia, John Gould called it Monarcha carinata "Carinated flycatcher".[8]

Australian amateur ornithologist Gregory Mathews described a paler specimen from Cape York as a distinct subspecies pallidus,[9] though this was not recognised subsequently.[2]

"Black-faced monarch" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[5] Alternate names include the "black-faced flycatcher", "carinated flycatcher", "grey-winged monarch" (particularly in New Guinea to distinguish from black-winged monarch), "grey-winged monarch flycatcher" and "pearly-winged monarch".[6]

The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[5] Within the genus, it is most closely related to the black-winged monarch (Monarcha frater).[10]

Description

The black-faced monarch is grey, with rufous underparts and mature birds have a black patch on the face.

Distribution and habitat

The preferred habitat is rainforest and wet forest.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Monarcha melanopsis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22707243A94112953. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22707243A94112953.en.
  2. Australian Biological Resources Study (12 February 2010). "Species Monarcha (Monarcha) melanopsis (Vieillot, 1818)". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  3. Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1818). Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc (in French). Volume 21. Paris: Deterville. p. 450.
  4. Vigors, Nicholas Aylward; Horsfield, Thomas (1827). "Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (in English and Latin). 15 (1): 170-334 [254-255]. The title page is dated 1826.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Monarchs". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  6. Gray, Jeannie; Fraser, Ian (2013). Australian Bird Names: A Complete Guide. Collingwood, Victoria: Csiro Publishing. pp. 248–249. ISBN 978-0-643-10471-6.
  7. Swainson, W. (1823). Zoological Illustrations; or Original Figures and Descriptions of new, rare, or interesting Animals, selected chiefly from the classes of Ornithology, Entomology, and Conchology, and arranged on the principles of Cuvier and other modern zoologists. Volume 3. London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy. p. 147.
  8. Gould, John (1848). The Birds of Australia. Volume 2. London: Printed by R. and J. E. Taylor; pub. by the author. p. 95.
  9. Mathews, Gregory M. (1916). "List of additions of new sub-species to, and changes in, my "List of the Birds of Australia"". Austral Avian Records. 3 (3): 53-68 [60].
  10. Andersen, M.J.; Hosner, P.A.; Filardi, C.E.; Moyle, R.G. (2015). "Phylogeny of the monarch flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly and novel relationships within a major Australo-Pacific radiation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 83: 118–36. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.11.010.


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