The slaty monarch (''Mayrornis lessoni'') 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 ...

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 ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. 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

The slaty monarch was originally described in the genus '' Rhipidura''. Alternate names include cinereous flycatcher, Fiji flycatcher, Fiji slaty flycatcher, slaty flycatcher (an alternate name shared with the

Vanikoro monarch The Vanikoro monarch (''Mayrornis schistaceus'') is a species of bird in the monarch family endemic to the Santa Cruz Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and it is threatened by habitat loss. Alternate na ...

) and white-tipped slaty flycatcher.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies recognized: * ''M. l. lessoni'' - ( G.R. Gray, 1846): found in western and central Fiji Islands * ''M. l. orientalis'' - Mayr, 1933: found in eastern Fiji Islands

References

Mayrornis Endemic birds of Fiji Birds described in 1846 Taxa named by George Robert Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub