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Monarchidae

(Family)

Overview

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The monarch flycatchers (Monarchidae) comprise a family of passerine birds which includes boatbills, shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks.

Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds 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.1]

Morphology and description

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The monarch flycatchers are a diverse family of passerine birds that are generally arboreal (with the exception of the magpie-larks). They are mostly slim birds and possess broad bills. The bills of some species are quite large; the boatbills of the genus Machaerirhynchus are very broad and flat, and the heavy-set bills of the shrikebills are used to probe dead wood and leaves. [2] The plumage of the family ranges from sombre, like the almost monochrome Black Monarch, to spectacular, like the Golden Monarch. The tails are generally long and spectacularly so in the paradise flycatchers in the genus Terpsiphone. Sexual dimorphism in plumage can be subtle, as in the Paperbark Flycatcher, where the female is identical to the male except for a slight buff on the throat; striking, as in the Chuuk Monarch where the male almost entirely white and the female entirely black; or non-existent, as in the Tahiti Monarch. In some species, for example the Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher, the males have two or more color morphs.[3]

Distribution, habitat and movements

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The Satin Flycatcher is fully migratory, breeding in southern Australia and migrating to northern Australia and New Guinea.

The monarch flycatchers 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 to New Guinea and most of Australia. The family has managed to reach many Pacific islands, and several endemic genera occur across Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia as far as Hawaii and the Marquesas.

The paradise flycatchers of the genus Terpsiphone have the widest distribution of any of the monarch flycatchers, ranging almost all of sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Seychelles, South, East and Southeastern Asia as far as Korea, Afghanistan, the Philippines and the Lesser Sundas. The other paradise flycatcher genus, Trochocercus, is restricted to Africa. The other exclusively Asian genus is the Hypothymis monarchs. The remaining genera are predominately found in the Austro-Papuan and Oceania regions. A few monotypic genera are restricted to Pacific island; these include the Silktail (Lamprolia) in Fiji, the Chuuk Monarch (Metabolus) in the Micronesian island of Chuuk, the Hawaiian Elepaio (Chasiempis) and the Buff-bellied Monarch (Neolalage) which is restricted to the islands of Vanuatu. Other Pacific genera are the shrikebills (Clytorhynchus), the Mayrornis monarchs, both of which are found in Melanesia and west Polynesia, and the Pomarea monarchs which are exclusively Polynesian in origin.

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

While the majority of monarch flycatchers are resident, a few species are partially migratory and one, the Satin Flycatcher, is fully migratory, although the Japanese Paradise Flycatcher is almost entirely migratory. The Asian Paradise Flycatcher is migratory over the northern parts of its range and sedentary in the tropics, and the African Paradise Flycatcher makes a series of poorly understood intra-African migratory movements.

Breeding

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Female Pale-blue Monarch on a nest constructed on a fork in a tree.

The monarch flycatchers are generally monogamous, with the pair bonds ranging from just a single season (as in the African Paradise-flycatcher) to life (the Elepaio). Only three species are known to engage in cooperative breeding; but many species are as yet unstudied. They are generally territorial, defending territories that are around 2 ha in size, but a few species may cluster their nesting sites closely together. Nesting sites may also be chosen close to aggressive species, for example Leaden Flycatchers nests may be located near the nests of the aggressive Noisy Friarbird.[4] The nests are in turn often aggressively defended by monarch flycatchers. In all species the nest is an open cup on a branch, fork or twig. In some species the nests can be highly conspicuous.

Systematics

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Many of the approximately 140 species making up the family were previously assigned to other groups, largely on the basis of general morphology or behaviour. The Magpie-lark, for example, was assigned to the same family as the White-winged Chough, since both build unusual nests from mud rather than vegetable matter. The Australasian fantails were thought to be allied with the fantails of the northern hemisphere (they have a similar diet and behaviour), and so on.

With the new insights generated by the DNA-DNA hybridisation studies of Sibley and 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 the drongos.[5] On that basis they have been included as a subfamily of t he Dicruridae, along with the fantails,[6] although Christidis and Boles have more recently treated it at familial rank as Monarchidae.[7]

More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat as the original concept of Corvida has proven paraphyletic. The narrower 'Core corvine' group now comprises the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarch flycatchers, drongos and mudnest builders.[8]

The monarchs are small to medium-sized insectivorous passerines, many of which hunt by flycatching.

Taxonomic list

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Based on del Hoyo et al. (2006)

Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi male at Ananthagiri Hills, in Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
Polynesia as far as Hawaii and the Marquesas.

The paradise flycatchers of the genus Terpsiphone have the widest distribution of any of the monarch flycatchers, ranging almost all of sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Seychelles, South, East and Southeastern Asia as far as Korea, Afghanistan, the Philippines and the Lesser Sundas. The other paradise flycatcher genus, Trochocercus, is restricted to Africa. The other exclusively Asian genus is the Hypothymis monarchs. The remaining genera are predominately found in the Austro-Papuan and Oceania regions. A few monotypic genera are restricted to Pacific island; these include the Silktail (Lamprolia) in Fiji, the Chuuk Monarch (Metabolus) in the Micronesian island of Chuuk, the Hawaiian Elepaio (Chasiempis) and the Buff-bellied Monarch (Neolalage) which is restricted to the islands of Vanuatu. Other Pacific genera are the shrikebills (Clytorhynchus), the Mayrornis monarchs, both of which are found in Melanesia and west Polynesia, and the Pomarea monarchs which are exclusively Polynesian in origin.

The majority of the family is found in forest 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 monarch flycatchers include savannah and mangroves, and the terrestrial Magpie-lark occurs in most Australian habitats except the driest deserts.

While the majority of monarch flyc atchers are resident, a few species are partially migratory and one, the Satin Flycatcher, is fully migratory, although the Japanese Paradise Flycatcher is almost entirely migratory. The Asian Paradise Flycatcher is migratory over the northern parts of its range and sedentary in the tropics, and the African Paradise Flycatcher makes a series of poorly understood intra-African migratory movements.

Breeding

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Female Pale-blue Monarch on a nest constructed on a fork in a tree.

The monarch flycatchers are generally monogamous, with the pair bonds ranging from jus t a single season (as in the African Paradise-flycatcher) to life (the Elepaio). Only three species are known to engage in cooperative breeding; but many species are as yet unstudied. They are generally territorial, defending territories that are around 2 ha in size, but a few species may cluster their nesting sites closely together. Nesting sites may also be chosen close to aggressive species, for example Leaden Flycatchers nests may be located near the nests of the aggressive Noisy Friarbird.[4] The nests are in turn often aggressively defended by monarch flycatchers. In all species the nest is an open cup on a branch, fork or twig. In some species the nests can be highly conspicuous.

Systematics

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Many of the approximately 140 species making up the family were previously assigned to other groups, largely on the basis of general morphology or behaviour. The Ma gpie-lark, for example, was assigned to the same family as the White-winged Chough, since both build unusual nests from mud rather than vegetable matter. The Australasian fantails were thought to be allied with the fantails of the northern hemisphere (they have a similar diet and behaviour), and so on.

With the new insights generated by the DNA-DNA hybridisation studies of Sibley and 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 the drongos.[5] On that basis they have been included as a subfamily of the Dicruridae, along with the fantails,[6] although Christidis and Boles have more recently treated it at familial rank as Monarchidae.[7]

More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat as the original concept of Corvida has proven paraphyletic. The narrower 'Core corvine' group now comprises the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarch flycatchers, drongos and mudnest builders.[8]

The monarchs are small to medium-sized insectivorous passerines, many of which hunt by flycatching.

Taxonomic list

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Based on del Hoyo et al. (2006)

Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi male at Ananthagiri Hills, in Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh, India.

References

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  1. ^ Garnett, Stephen (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 200?201. ISBN 1-85391-186-0. 
  2. ^ Duston, Guy (2006). "The Pacific shrikebills (Clytorhynchus) and the case for species status for the form sanctaecrucis" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithological Club 126 (4): 299?308. http://www.melanesiangeo.org/resources/BBOC%20shrikebills%5B1%5D.pdf. 
  3. ^ Mulder, Raoul; Robert Ramiarison and Rayonn? E. Emahalala (2003). "Ontogeny of male plumage dichromatism in Madagascar paradise flycatchers Terpsiphone mutata". Journal of Avian Biology 33 (4): 342?348. doi:10.1034/j.1600-048X.2002.02888.x. 
  4. ^ Marchant, S (1983). "Suggested nesting association between Leaden Flycatchers and Noisy Friarbirds". Emu 83 (2): 119?122. doi:10.1071/MU9830119. 
  5. ^ Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): Phylogeny and classification of birds. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
  6. ^ Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. (1994). The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. Melbourne: RAOU. 
  7. ^ Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Canberra: CSIRO Publishing. p. 174. ISBN 9780643065116. 
  8. ^ Cracraft J, Barker FK, Braun M, Harshman J, Dyke GJ, Feinstein J, Stanley S, Cibois A, Schikler P, Beresford P, Garc?a-Moreno J, Sorenson MD, Yuri T, Mindell DP (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships among modern birds (Neornithes): toward an avian tree of life". In Cracraft J, Donoghue MJ. Assembling the tree of life. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. pp. 468?89. ISBN 0195172345. 

External links

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Taxonomy

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The Family Monarchidae is a member of the Superfamily Corvoidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Monarchidae:

The Family Monarchidae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

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Arses

Artaxerxes (Artax?aca) IV Arses was king of Persia between 338 BC and 336 BC. He was the youngest son of King Artaxerxes III and Atossa and was not expected to succeed to the throne of Persia. His unexpected rise to the throne came in 338 BC as a result of the murder of his father and most of his family by Bagoas, the powerful Vizier of Persia who had recently fallen in Artaxerxes' disfavor. Bagoas sought to remain in office by replacing Artaxerxes with his son Arses (Artaxerxes IV), whom he thought easier to control. Arses remained little more than a puppet-king during the two years of his reign while Bagoas acted as the power behind the throne. Eventually, disgruntled by this state of affairs and possibly influenced by the nobles of the Royal Court, who generally held Bagoas in contempt, Arses started planning Bagoas' murder. The Vizier again acted first in order to protect himself and managed to poison Arses. Bagoas then raised a cousin of Arses to the throne as King Darius III of Persia. A major concern for Persia during this King's short reign were hostilities on the western borders with Macedonia under Kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. This would lead to war between the two states during the reign of Arses' successor. [more]

Chasiempis

The Elepaio (Chasiempis sp.) is a complex of 3 species of monarch flycatcher that is endemic to Hawai?i. One species inhabits the Big Island, another O?ahu and the third Kaua?i. Being one of the most adaptable native birds of the archipelago, no subspecies have yet become extinct, though two have become quite rare nowadays. [more]

Chasiempsis

[more]

Clytorhynchus

The shrikebills are the monarch flycatcher genus Clytorhynchus. The four to six species have long laterally compressed bills similar to true shrikes that give them their names. The genus is endemic to the islands of Melanesia and western Polynesia. [more]

Elminia

Elminia is a genus of bird in the flycatcher family Stenostiridae. The genus is endemic to Africa. It contains the following species: [more]

Erythrocercus

Erythrocercus is a of bird in the Monarchidae family. It contains the following species: [more]

Eutrichomyias

The Cerulean Paradise Flycatcher (Eutrichomyias rowleyi) is a medium-sized (up to 18 cm long), blue flycatcher with bright cerulean blue plumage, a bare white orbital ring, dark brown iris, bluish black bill and pale blue-grey below. The young has a shorter tail and grey underparts. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Eutrichomyias. [more]

Grallina

Grallina is a genus composed of two species of passerine bird native to Australia and New Guinea. It is a member of a group of birds termed monarch flycatchers. This group is considered either as a subfamily Monarchinae, together with the fantails as part of the drongo family Dicruridae, or as a family Monarchidae in its own right. More broadly, they belong to the Corvida parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, Fairy-wrens and honeyeaters as well as crows. [more]

Hypothymis

Hypothymis is a genus of in the Monarchidae family. It contains the following species: [more]

Lamprolia

The Silktail, Lamprolia victoriae is a species of bird endemic to Fiji. It is the only member of the genus Lamprolia. This beautiful bird looks superficially like a diminutive bird of paradise but it is actually closely related to the fantails. [more]

Mayrornis

Mayrornis is a genus of in the Monarchidae family. It contains the following species: [more]

Metabolus

The Chuuk Monarch, or Truk Monarch (Metabolus rugensis) is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Metabolus. It is endemic to the island of Chuuk in Micronesia. [more]

Monarcha

Monarcha is a genus of in the Monarchidae family. It contains the following species: [more]

Monarches

[more]

Myiagra

Myiagra is a genus of monarch flycatcher, sometimes referred to as the broad-billed flycatchers or simply broadbills (not to be confused with the broadbills of the family Eurylaimidae). They are separated from other members of the family, particularly the Monarcha monarchs they resemble, by their consistent sexual dimorphism, egg patterning, and the crested heads that often lack facial patterns (a few Monarcha monarchs also lack facial patterns). The genus is spread across Australasia, with some representatives in Wallacea, New Guinea, Australia, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Micronesia. Members of this genus occur as occasional vagrants in New Zealand and formerly occurred in Tonga and Guam. [more]

Myiolestes

[more]

Neolalage

The Buff-bellied Monarch (Neolalage banksiana) is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Neolalage.[] It is endemic to Vanuatu. [more]

Pinarolestes

[more]

Pomarea

Pomarea is a genus of in the monarch flycatcher family Monarchidae. The genus is restricted to the islands of Polynesia. The monarchs of this genus are around 15-19 cm long and most have sexually dimorphic plumage. [more]

Seisura

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[1] [more]

Siphia

[more]

Symposiachrus

[more]

Tchitrea

[more]

Terpsiphone

The paradise flycatchers, Terpsiphone, are a genus of monarch flycatchers. The genus ranges across Africa and Asia, as well as a number of islands. A few species are migratory, but the majority are resident. The most telling characteristic of the genus is the long tail streamers of the males of many species. In addition to the long tails the males and females are sexually dimorphic and have rufous, black and white plumage. [more]

Trochocercus

Trochocercus is a genus of in the Monarchidae family. It contains the following species: [more]

Trochocerus

[more]

More info about the Genus Trochocerus may be found here.

References

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  1. ^ Garnett, Stephen (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 200?201. ISBN 1-85391-186-0. 
  2. ^ Duston, Guy (2006). "The Pacific shrikebills (Clytorhynchus) and the case for species status for the form sanctaecrucis" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithological Club 126 (4): 299?308. http://www.melanesiangeo.org/resources/BBOC%20shrikebills%5B1%5D.pdf. 
  3. ^ Mulder, Raoul; Robert Ramiarison and Rayonn? E. Emahalala (2003). "Ontogeny of male plu mage dichromatism in Madagascar paradise flycatchers Terpsiphone mutata". Journal of Avian Biology 33 (4): 342?348. doi:10.1034/j.1600-048X.2002.02888.x. 
  4. ^ Marchant, S (1983). "Suggested nesting association between Leaden Flycatchers and Noisy Friarbirds". Emu 83 (2): 119?122. doi:10.1071/MU9830119. 
  5. ^ Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): Phylogeny and classification of birds. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
  6. ^ Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. (1994). The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. Melbourne: RAOU. 
  7. ^ Christidis , L.; Boles, W. E. (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Canberra: CSIRO Publishing. p. 174. ISBN 9780643065116. 
  8. ^ Cracraft J, Barker FK, Braun M, Harshman J, Dyke GJ, Feinstein J, Stanley S, Cibois A, Schikler P, Beresford P, Garc?a-Moreno J, Sorenson MD, Yuri T, Mindell DP (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships among modern birds (Neornithes): toward an avian tree of life". In Cracraft J, Donoghue MJ. Assembling the tree of life. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. pp. 468?89. ISBN 0195172345. 

Footnotes

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  1. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=22243

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:36:24