The black-tailed monarch (''Symposiachrus verticalis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Monarchidae The monarchs (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland a ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

of Papua New Guinea. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Taxonomy and systematics

This species was originally 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 ...

'' until moved to ''Symposiachrus'' in 2009. Alternate names include Bismarck monarch, Bismarck pied monarch, Duke of York monarch, New Britain monarch, New Britain pied monarch and York monarch.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies recognized: * Djaul monarch (''S. v. ateralbus'') - ( Salomonsen, 1964): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Monarcha''. Found on

Dyaul Island Dyaul Island (also Djaul) is an island in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. Its area is 100 km2. The inhabitants live mainly in seven villages, and frequently visit Kavieng, the capital of the province, for supplies or to sell produce an ...

(off north-western New Ireland) * ''S. v. verticalis'' - ( P. L. Sclater, 1877): Found on the main islands of the Bismarck Archipelago

References

black-tailed monarch Birds of the Bismarck Archipelago black-tailed monarch black-tailed monarch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub