The island monarch (''Monarcha cinerascens'') 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 found from

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

. 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 ...

s are 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' ...

s and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The island monarch was originally described in the genus ''

Drymophila __NOTOC__ ''Drymophila'' is a bird genus in the antbird family (Thamnophilidae). It is a relative of the typical antwrens. The genus ''Drymophila'' was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1824. The type species is the fer ...

''. Alternate names include the grey-headed monarch, island grey-headed monarch, island grey-headed monarch flycatcher and islet monarch.

Subspecies

Ten

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized: * ''M. c. commutatus'' - Brüggemann, 1876: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Sangir, Siau, Mayu and Tifore Islands (off north-eastern

) * ''M. c. cinerascens'' - (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temminck ...

, 1827): Found on Sulawesi, Talaud Archipelago, Moluccas and

Lesser Sundas The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...

* ''M. c. inornatus'' - ( Lesson, R & Garnot, 1828): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Muscicapa''. Found on western Papuan islands, north-western

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and Aru Islands * ''M. c. steini'' -

Stresemann Stresemann is a German family name which may refer to: * Christina Stresemann (born 1957), German judge; daughter of Wolfgang Stresemann * Erwin Stresemann (1889 – 1972), German ornithologist * Gustav Stresemann (1878 – 1929), German politicia ...

& Paludan, 1932: Found on Numfor (off north-western New Guinea) * ''M. c. geelvinkianus'' - Meyer, AB, 1884: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Yapen and

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and c ...

(off north-western New Guinea) * ''M. c. fuscescens'' - Meyer, AB, 1884: Originally described as a separate species. Found on islands off north-western New Guinea * ''M. c. fulviventris'' - Hartlaub, 1868: Originally described as a separate species. Found in western

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 ...

* ''M. c. perpallidus'' - Neumann, 1924: Found in northern and central Bismarck Archipelago * ''M. c. impediens'' -

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in Hamburg, Germany on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married the illustrator Claudia Bernadine E ...

, 1926: Found north-eastern New Guinea & nearby islands, and islets off eastern Bismarck Archipelago to the Solomon Islands * ''M. c. rosselianus'' -

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

& Hartert, 1916: Found on

Trobriand Islands The Trobriand Islands are a archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main isla ...

D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...

and

Louisiade Archipelago The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea. It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread ...

The former subspecies ''nigrirostris'' from northeastern New Guinea was lumped with ''impidiens'' in 2022.

References

island monarch Birds of Wallacea Birds of Melanesia Least concern biota of Asia Least concern biota of Oceania island monarch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub