Monarchidae: Monarchs
Black-naped Monarch. © David Diller
The monarchs are insect-hawking songbirds found mainly in humid tropical forests from West Africa to eastern Polynesia. The most spectacular and familiar subgroup of monarchs is the paradise-flycatchers, the family’s sole representatives in Africa and Asia, several of which have impressively long-tailed male plumages.
The other groups of monarchs have diversified through colonization of the tropical Pacific. A few inhabit Australia or New Guinea, but the vast majority of monarch species are confined to smaller islands—some only on individual islands, some spanning archipelagos—including the Lesser Sundas, the Moluccas, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomons, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Hawaii, and almost all of the forested islands of Micronesia and Polynesia. Many of these range-restricted Pacific islanders have dwindled to critically low populations and at least four have already succumbed to extinction.
Taxonomy
Genetic assays of the Monarchidae have revealed two subfamily-level lineages, one mostly uniform and the other diverse:
Terpsiphoninae: Paradise-Flycatchers (23 to 27 species)
Monarchinae: Monarch Flycatchers (75 to 87 species, plus 4 extinct)
The latter subfamily comprises three subgroups that could be considered tribes. Two of these share features and habits typical of monarchs, while the other subgroup is an aberrant pair: the Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), an adaptable open-country flycatcher, one of Australia’s most familiar birds, and the Torrent-lark (Grallina bruijnii), which specializes in rocky streambeds of the New Guinean highlands.
As currently understood, therefore, the Monarchidae comprise somewhere in the range of 98 to 114 species, plus four recently extinct.
Blue-headed Crested-Flycatcher (Trochocercus nitens)
Blue-mantled Crested-Flycatcher (Trochocercus cyanomelas)
“East African Crested-Flycatcher” (T. c. cyanomelas)
“South African Crested-Flycatcher” (T. c. segregus)
Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea)
Pale-blue Monarch (Hypothymis puella)
Short-crested Monarch (Hypothymis helenae)
Celestial Monarch (Hypothymis coelestis)
Luzon Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone unirufa)
Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone cinnamomea)
Blue Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone cyanescens)
Amur Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone incei)
Japanese Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone atrocaudata)
Oriental Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone affinis)
Lesser Sunda Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone floris)
Mascarene Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone bourbonnensis)
Indian Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi)
São Tomé Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone atrochalybeia)
Malagasy Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutata)
“Madagascar Paradise-Flycatcher” (T. m. mutata)
“Comoros Paradise-Flycatcher” (T. m. vulpina)
“Grand Comoro Paradise-Flycatcher” (T. m. comoroensis)
Seychelles Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone corvina)
African Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis)
Rufous-vented Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone rufocinerea)
Red-bellied Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone rufiventer)
“Red-bellied Paradise-Flycatcher” (T. r. rufiventer)
“Tricolored Paradise-Flycatcher” (T. r. tricolor)
Bedford’s Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone bedfordi)
Bates’s Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone batesi)
Annobon Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone smithii)
Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)
Torrent-lark (Grallina bruijnii)
Pied Monarch (Arses kaupi)
Ochre-collared Monarch (Arses insularis)
Frilled Monarch (Arses telescopthalmus)
Frill-necked Monarch (Arses lorealis)
Shining Flycatcher (Myiagra alecto)
Velvet Flycatcher (Myiagra hebetior)
“St. Mattias Flycatcher” (M. h. hebetior)
“Velvet Flycatcher” (M. h. eichhorni)
“Dull Flycatcher” (M. h. cervinicolor)
Chestnut-throated Flycatcher (Myiagra castaneigularis)
Azure-crested Flycatcher (Myiagra azureocapilla)
Palau Flycatcher (Myiagra erythrops)
Broad-billed Flycatcher (Myiagra ruficollis)
Paperbark Flycatcher (Myiagra nana)
Restless Flycatcher (Myiagra inquieta)
Oceanic Flycatcher (Myiagra oceanica)
Pohnpei Flycatcher (Myiagra pluto)
Samoan Flycatcher (Myiagra albiventris)
Melanesian Flycatcher (Myiagra caledonica)
Ochre-headed Flycatcher (Myiagra cervinicauda)
Vanikoro Flycatcher (Myiagra vanikorensis)
Steel-blue Flycatcher (Myiagra ferrocyanea)
Moluccan Flycatcher (Myiagra galeata)
Guam Flycatcher (Myiagra freycineti) †
Biak Black Flycatcher (Myiagra atra)
Leaden Flycatcher (Myiagra rubecula)
Satin Flycatcher (Myiagra cyanoleuca)
Rufous Monarch (Symposiachrus rubiensis)
Black Monarch (Symposiachrus axillaris)
Hooded Monarch (Symposiachrus manadensis)
Mussau Monarch (Symposiachrus menckei)
Black-tailed Monarch (Symposiachrus verticalis)
“Djaul Monarch” (S. v. ateralbus)
“Black-tailed Monarch” (S. v. verticalis)
White-tipped Monarch (Symposiachrus everetti)
Spectacled Monarch (Symposiachrus trivirgatus)
“Halmahera Monarch” (S. t. bimaculatus)
“Obi Monarch” (S. t. diadematus)
“Seram Monarch” (S. t. nigrimentum)
“Spectacled Monarch” (S. t. trivirgatus)
“Australian Monarch” (S. t. gouldii)
Spot-winged Monarch (Symposiachrus guttula)
Black-chinned Monarch (Symposiachrus boanensis)
White-tailed Monarch (Symposiachrus leucurus)
Manus Monarch (Symposiachrus infelix)
Black-bibbed Monarch (Symposiachrus mundus)
Black-tipped Monarch (Symposiachrus loricatus)
Kofiau Monarch (Symposiachrus julianae)
Biak Monarch (Symposiachrus brehmii)
Solomons Monarch (Symposiachrus barbatus)
White-cheeked Monarch (Symposiachrus malaitae)
Kolombangara Monarch (Symposiachrus browni)
White-collared Monarch (Symposiachrus vidua)
Flores Monarch (Symposiachrus sacerdotum)
Golden Monarch (Carterornis chrysomela)
White-eared Monarch (Carterornis leucotis)
White-naped Monarch (Carterornis pileatus)
Rarotonga Monarch (Monarcha dimidiatus)
Tinian Monarch (Monarcha takatsukasae)
Yap Monarch (Monarcha godeffroyi)
Tahiti Monarch (Monarcha niger)
Maupiti Monarch (Monarcha pomarea) †
Chuuk Monarch (Monarcha rugensis)
Island Monarch (Monarcha cinerascens)
Black-faced Monarch (Monarcha melanopsis)
Black-winged Monarch (Monarcha frater)
Chestnut-bellied Monarch (Monarcha castaneiventris)
“Chestnut-bellied Monarch” (M. c. castaneiventris)
“Makira Monarch” (M. c. megarhynchus)
“Ugi Monarch” (M. c. ugiensis)
Bougainville Monarch (Monarcha erythrostictus)
White-capped Monarch (Monarcha richardsii)
Versicolored Monarch (Monarcha versicolor)
Iphis Monarch (Monarcha iphis)
Eiao Monarch (Monarcha fluxus) †
Nuku Hiva Monarch (Monarcha nukuhivae) †
Ua Pou Monarch (Monarcha mirus)
Marquesan Monarch (Monarcha mendozae)
Fatu Hiva Monarch (Monarcha whitneyi)
Kauai Elepaio (Monarcha sclateri)
Oahu Elepaio (Monarcha ibidis)
Hawaii Elepaio (Monarcha sandwichensis)
Buff-bellied Monarch (Monarcha banksiana)
Vanikoro Monarch (Monarcha schistaceus)
Slaty Monarch (Monarcha lesson)
Rennell Shrikebill (Monarcha hamlini)
Black-throated Shrikebill (Monarcha nigrogularis)
Southern Shrikebill (Monarcha pachycephaloides)
Fiji Shrikebill (Monarcha vitiensis)
“Fiji Shrikebill” (M. v. vitiensis)
“Manua Shrikebill” (M. v. powelli)
“Fortuna Shrikebill” (M. v. fortunae)
“Dusky Shrikebill” (M. v. keppeli)
Santa Cruz Shrikebill (Monarcha sanctaecrucis)
References
Boyd, J.H., 2018. Taxonomy in Flux: Corvida III: Corvoidea. http://jboyd.net/Taxo/List19.html. (Posted June 6, 2018. Accessed November 28, 2020.)
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.
Roberson, D. 2012. Bird Families of the World: Monarchs, Monarchidae. http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/monarchs.html. (Posted March 9, 2012. Accessed November 28, 2020.)