The black-faced monarch (''Monarcha melanopsis'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

songbird in the family Monarchidae found along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and also New Guinea (where most birds migrate to during the austral winter; May to August).

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 ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The species is now placed in the genus ''

Monarcha ''Monarcha'' is a genus of bird in the family Monarchidae. They are found in Australia and Melanesia. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Monarcha'' was introduced by naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827 with the black-fac ...

'' that was introduced by the naturalists

Nicholas Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 1785 as fi ...

and

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the East India Company ...

in 1827. The specific name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

words ''melas'' "black" and ''ops'' "face". English naturalist William Swainson described it in 1823 as ''Muscipeta carinata'', or "keel-billed flycatcher", unaware of Vieillot's earlier description. In his 1848 work '' The Birds of Australia'', John Gould called it ''Monarcha carinata'' "Carinated flycatcher". Australian amateur ornithologist

Gregory Mathews Gregory Macalister Mathews CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England. Life He was born in Biamble in New South Wales the son of Robert H. M ...

described a paler specimen from Cape York as a distinct subspecies ''pallidus'', though this was not recognised subsequently. "Black-faced monarch" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC). 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". The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

: no subspecies are recognised. Within the genus, it is most closely related to the black-winged monarch (''Monarcha frater'').

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

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the black-faced monarch
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1308775 black-faced monarch Birds of New South Wales Birds of Queensland Birds of Victoria (Australia) black-faced monarch black-faced monarch