Birds Guide

Monarchinae
Female Volcano 'Elepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis ridgwayi)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Passeriformes   Family: Dicruridae   Subfamily: Monarchinae
Genera
Erythrocercus Elminia Trochocercus Hypothymis Eutrichomyias Terpsiphone Chasiempis Pomarea Mayrornis Neolalage Clytorhynchus Metabolus Monarcha Arses Myiagra Lamprolia Machaerirhynchus Grallina

The Monarchinae are a subfamily of the bird family Dicruridae, which is a relatively recent grouping of a number of seemingly very different birds, mostly from the southern hemisphere, which are more closely related than they at first appear. It includes the boatbills, monarch flycatchers and Magpie-lark.

Many of the 139 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 (both groups share 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.

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

Species of Monarchinae

• Chestnut-capped Flycatcher , Erythrocercus mccallii, (Lower risk (lc))
  Yellow Flycatcher , Erythrocercus holochlorus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Livingstone's Flycatcher , Erythrocercus livingstonei, (Lower risk (lc))
  African Blue-Flycatcher , Elminia longicauda, (Lower risk (lc))
  White-tailed Blue-Flycatcher , Elminia albicauda, (Lower risk (lc))
  Dusky Crested-Flycatcher , Elminia nigromitrata, (Lower risk (lc))
  White-bellied Crested-Flycatcher , Elminia albiventris, (Lower risk (lc))
  White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher , Elminia albonotata, (Lower risk (lc))
  Blue-headed Crested-Flycatcher , Trochocercus nitens, (Lower risk (lc))
  African Crested-Flycatcher , Trochocercus cyanomelas, (Lower risk (lc))
  Short-crested Monarch , Hypothymis helenae, (Lower risk (nt))
  Black-naped Monarch , Hypothymis azurea
  Pale-blue Monarch , Hypothymis puella, (Lower risk (lc))
  Celestial Monarch , Hypothymis coelestis, (Vulnerable)
  Cerulean Paradise-Flycatcher , Eutrichomyias rowleyi, (Critical)
  Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone rufiventer
  Annobón Paradise-flycatcher, Terpsiphone smithii, (Vulnerable)
  Bedford's Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone bedfordi, (Lower risk (nt))
  Rufous vented Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone rufocinerea, (Lower risk (lc))
  Bates' Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone batesi, (Lower risk (lc))
  African Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone viridis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Sao Tome Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone atrochalybeia, (Lower risk (lc))
  Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone mutata, (Lower risk (lc))
  Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone corvina, (Critical)
  Mascarene Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone bourbonnensis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Japanese Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone atrocaudata, (Lower risk (nt))
  Blue Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone cyanescens, (Lower risk (nt))
  Rufous Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone cinnamomea, (Lower risk (lc))
  Asian Paradise Flycatcher , Terpsiphone paradisi
  'Elepaio, Chasiempis sandwichensis, (Endangered)
  Rarotonga Monarch , Pomarea dimidiata, (Endangered)
  Tahiti Monarch ,Pomarea nigra, (Critical)
  Maupiti Monarch, Pomarea pomarea, (Extinct (1823))
  Iphis Monarch , Pomarea iphis, (Vulnerable)
  Marquesas Monarch , Pomarea mendozae, (Endangered)
  Fatuhiva Monarch , Pomarea whitneyi, (Critical)
  Ogea Monarch , Mayrornis versicolor, (Vulnerable)
  Slaty Monarch , Mayrornis lessoni, (Lower risk (lc))
  Vanikoro Monarch , Mayrornis schistaceus, (Lower risk (nt))
  Buff-bellied Monarch , Neolalage banksiana, (Lower risk (lc))
  Southern Shrikebill , Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides, (Lower risk (lc))
  Rennell Shrikebill , Clytorhynchus hamlini, (Lower risk (lc))
  Fiji Shrikebill , Clytorhynchus vitiensis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Black-throated Shrikebill , Clytorhynchus nigrogularis, (Vulnerable)
  Truk Monarch , Metabolus rugensis, (Endangered)
  Black Monarch , Monarcha axillaris, (Lower risk (lc))
  Rufous Monarch , Monarcha rubiensis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Island Monarch , Monarcha cinerascens, (Lower risk (lc))
  Black-winged Monarch , Monarcha frater, (Lower risk (lc))
  Black-faced Monarch , Monarcha melanopsis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Bougainville Monarch , Monarcha erythrostictus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Chestnut-bellied Monarch , Monarcha castaneiventris, (Lower risk (lc))
  White-capped Monarch , Monarcha richardsii, (Lower risk (lc))
  White-naped Monarch , Monarcha pileatus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Loetoe Monarch , Monarcha castus, (Lower risk (lc))
  White-eared Monarch , Monarcha leucotis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Spot-winged Monarch , Monarcha guttulus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Black-bibbed Monarch , Monarcha mundus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Spectacled Monarch , Monarcha trivirgatus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Flores Monarch , Monarcha sacerdotum, (Endangered)
  White-tipped Monarch , Monarcha everetti, (Endangered)
  Black-tipped Monarch , Monarcha loricatus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Black-chinned Monarch , Monarcha boanensis, (Critical)
  White-tailed Monarch , Monarcha leucurus, (Lower risk (nt))
  Black-backed Monarch , Monarcha julianae
  Hooded Monarch , Monarcha manadensis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Biak Monarch , Monarcha brehmii, (Endangered)
  Manus Monarch , Monarcha infelix, (Lower risk (nt))
  White-breasted Monarch , Monarcha menckei, (Lower risk (nt))
  Black-tailed Monarch , Monarcha verticalis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Kulambangra Monarch , Monarcha browni, (Lower risk (nt))
  White-collared Monarch , Monarcha viduus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Black-and-white Monarch , Monarcha barbatus, (Lower risk (nt))
  Yap Monarch , Monarcha godeffroyi, (Lower risk (nt))
  Tinian Monarch , Monarcha takatsukasae, (Vulnerable)
  Golden Monarch , Monarcha chrysomela, (Lower risk (lc))
  Frilled Monarch , Arses telescophthalmus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Rufous-collared Monarch , Arses insularis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Pied Monarch , Arses kaupi, (Lower risk (lc))
  Guam Flycatcher , Myiagra freycineti, (Extinct (1983))
  Palau Flycatcher , Myiagra erythrops, (Lower risk (lc))
  Pohnpei Flycatcher , Myiagra pluto, (Lower risk (lc))
  Oceanic Flycatcher , Myiagra oceanica, (Lower risk (lc))
  Biak Flycatcher , Myiagra atra, (Lower risk (nt))
  Moluccan Flycatcher , Myiagra galeata, (Lower risk (lc))
  Leaden Flycatcher , Myiagra rubecula, (Lower risk (lc))
  Steel-blue Flycatcher , Myiagra ferrocyanea, (Lower risk (lc))
  Ochre-headed Flycatcher , Myiagra cervinicauda, (Lower risk (nt))
  Melanesian Flycatcher , Myiagra caledonica, (Lower risk (lc))
  Vanikoro Flycatcher , Myiagra vanikorensis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Samoan Flycatcher , Myiagra albiventris, (Vulnerable)
  Blue-crested Flycatcher , Myiagra azureocapilla, (Lower risk (lc))
  Broad-billed Flycatcher , Myiagra ruficollis, (Lower risk (lc))
  Satin Flycatcher , Myiagra cyanoleuca, (Lower risk (lc))
  Restless Flycatcher , Myiagra inquieta, (Lower risk (lc))
  Shining Flycatcher , Myiagra alecto, (Lower risk (lc))
  Dull Flycatcher , Myiagra hebetior, (Lower risk (lc))
  Silktail , Lamprolia victoriae, (Vulnerable)
  Black-breasted Boatbill , Machaerirhynchus nigripectus, (Lower risk (lc))
  Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Machaerirhynchus flaviventer, (Lower risk (lc))
  Magpie-lark, Grallina cyanoleuca
  Torrent-lark, Grallina bruijni, (Lower risk (lc))

External links

• Monarch Flycatcher videos on the Internet Bird Collection