Golden monarch

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Golden monarch
Golden Monarch (Monarcha chrysomela).jpg
Male photographed on Biak, Indonesia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Monarchidae
Genus: Carterornis
Species:
C. chrysomela
Binomial name
Carterornis chrysomela
(Lesson & Garnot, 1827)
Subspecies

See text

Synonyms
  • Monarcha chrysomela
  • Muscicapa chrysomela

The golden monarch (Carterornis chrysomela) is a species of passerine bird in the family Monarchidae found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. The golden monarch displays marked sexual dimorphism, the male a striking golden colour with black mask, wings and tail, the female a golden or golden-olive colour. Both bear a characteristic 'teardrop' white pattern below the eye.

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

The golden monarch was first described by French naturalist Prosper Garnot in 1827. It was originally described in the genus Muscicapa and then placed in the genus Monarcha until moved to Carterornis in 2009. [2]

The golden monarch 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, [3] or as a family Monarchidae in its own right. [4] They are not closely related to their namesakes, the Old World flycatchers of the family Muscicapidae as early molecular research in the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed that the monarchs belong to a large group of mainly Australasian birds known as the Corvida parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines. [5] More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat as the monarchs have been classified in a 'Core corvine' group with the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, drongos and mudnest builders. [6]

Alternate names for the golden monarch include the black-and-gold monarch, black-and-yellow monarch and black-and-yellow monarch flycatcher.

Subspecies

There are nine subspecies recognized: [7]

Description

Measuring 12.5 to 14 cm (4.9 to 5.5 in), the golden monarch displays marked sexual dimorphism. The male is a bright golden colour with sharply delineated black cheeks and throat, primary wing feathers and tail. It has a pale blue and black bill and dark brown iris, and a distinctive teardrop pattern of white feathers under the eye. The subspecies pulcherrima has a golden back, others have a black back. The female lacks the black colouring and is instead an olive-greenish with more yellowish underparts. It has black bill and the teardrop pattern under the eye. [8]

Distribution and habitat

The golden monarch is found across New Guinea, and to the Aru Islands to the west, the D'Entrecasteaux Islands and the Bismarck Archipelago to the east, but not New Britain. [8]

The preferred habitat is lowland rainforest or swamp forest to 700 m (2000 ft), or 1400 m (4000 ft) in New Ireland. It stays mainly in the canopy, although may descend for water. [8]

Feeding

The golden monarch is insectivorous. It may be found in mixed-species foraging flocks with the yellow-bellied gerygone (Gerygone chrysogaster) and Wallace's fairywren (Sipodotus wallacii). [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarch flycatcher</span> Family of birds

The monarchs comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied monarch</span> Species of bird

The pied monarch is a species of bird in the monarch-flycatcher family, Monarchidae. It is endemic to coastal Queensland in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frilled monarch</span> Species of bird

The frilled monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. As currently defined, its range is restricted to forest on New Guinea and nearby smaller islands, but historically it has included some or all of the remaining members of the genus Arses as subspecies.

<i>Grallina</i> Genus of birds

Grallina is a genus of passerine bird native to Australia and New Guinea. It is a member of a group of birds termed monarch flycatchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black monarch</span> Species of bird

The black monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

<i>Monarcha</i> Genus of birds

Monarcha is a genus of bird in the family Monarchidae. They are found in Australia and Melanesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut-bellied monarch</span> Species of bird

The chestnut-bellied monarch or chestnut-bellied monarch-flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanimbar monarch</span> Subspecies of bird

The Tanimbar monarch, or Loetoe monarch is a bird in the family Monarchidae endemic to Indonesia. It is found in the Tanimbar Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island monarch</span> Species of bird

The island monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found from Sulawesi to the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-winged monarch</span> Species of bird

The black-winged monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in Australia and on New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-eared monarch</span> Species of bird

The white-eared monarch, or white-eared flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to north-eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The white-eared monarch was originally described in the genus Monarcha until moved to Carterornis in 2009.

The Mussau monarch, also known as the white-breasted monarch, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The white-naped monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it occurs in the Maluku Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-tailed monarch</span> Species of bird

The black-tailed monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shining flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The shining flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in northern Australia, and from the Moluccas to the Bismarck Archipelago. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azure-crested flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The azure-crested flycatcher or the blue-crested flycatcher, is a species of bird in the monarch flycatcher family Monarchidae. It is endemic to Fiji, where it is found on Taveuni.

The Mussau flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to Mussau Island in the Bismarck Archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leaden flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The leaden flycatcher is a species of passerine bird in the family Monarchidae. Around 15 cm (6 in) in length, the male is lustrous azure with white underparts, while the female possesses leaden head, mantle and back and rufous throat and breast. It is found in eastern and northern Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests in the northern parts of its range, in the south and inland it is eucalypt woodland.

<i>Carterornis</i> Genus of birds

Carterornis is a genus of birds in the family Monarchidae that are found in Australia and Melanesia.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2017). "Carterornis chrysomela". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22707339A118764170. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22707339A118764170.en . Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "IOC Bird List v2.0". 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ Christidis L, Boles WE (1994). The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. Melbourne: RAOU.
  4. ↑ Christidis L, Boles WE (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds . Canberra: CSIRO Publishing. p.  174. ISBN   978-0-643-06511-6.
  5. ↑ Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): Phylogeny and classification of birds. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
  6. ↑ Cracraft J, Barker FK, Braun M, Harshman J, Dyke GJ, Feinstein J, Stanley S, Cibois A, Schikler P, Beresford P, García-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 (eds.). Assembling the tree of life . New York: Oxford Univ. Press. pp.  468–489. ISBN   0-19-517234-5.
  7. ↑ "IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi: 10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4 .
  8. 1 2 3 4 Coates, Brian J. (1990). The Birds of Papua New Guinea, Including the Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville. Vol. 2: Passerines. Alderley, Qld.: Dove. pp. 161–162. ISBN   978-0-9590257-1-2.
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