The satin flycatcher (''Myiagra cyanoleuca'') 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 lightweig ...

in the family Monarchidae. Males stand out with their blue-black feathers contrasting their white bellies, and the females with their bright orange throats. It breeds mostly in south-eastern

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and Australia. It is declining throughout the eastern seaboard due to predation from the introduced Red Fox and

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. It is a vagrant to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The satin flycatcher was originally described in the genus '' Platyrhynchos''. Alternate names include satin Myiagra and satin Myiagra-flycatcher. The name ''Myiagra'' is derived 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 ...

‘''muia''’, meaning ‘fly’ (insect), and ‘''agreo’'', meaning ‘seize’ (thus, ‘flycatcher’). ''Cyanoleuca'' is derived from ‘''cyanos’ (''blue) and ‘''leucos''’ (white). The satin flycatcher is a member of the Monarchidae family, or the Monarchs, which contains around 100 small,

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 ...

, insectivorous birds. The family stretches across much of the planet, with species living in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and the pacific amongst other areas. The genus ''

Myiagra ''Myiagra'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Monarchidae, the monarch flycatchers, native to Australasia, sometimes referred to as the broad-billed flycatchers or simply broadbills. Taxonomy The genus ''Myiagra'' was introduced in 18 ...

'' is distinct from other members of the Monarchidae family by their obvious

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

, egg patterns, and unpatterned crests. Most have black bills, orange mouths, and the males have glossy, shiny feathers. The ''Myiagra'' genus are mainly distributed in the

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

region, existing almost exclusively in Australia,

, and other pacific islands. The satin flycatcher is distinct from other flycatchers by the male’s deep blue and white plumage, and the shiny ‘satin’ appearance of it. Other similar flycatchers include the

Broad-billed flycatcher The broad-billed flycatcher (''Myiagra ruficollis'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in northern Australia, the Lesser Sunda Islands and southern New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist ...

(''Myiagra ruficollis'') and the

Leaden flycatcher The leaden flycatcher (''Myiagra rubecula'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Monarchidae. Around 15 cm (6 in) in length, the male is lustrous azure with white underparts, while the female possesses leaden head, mantle and ...

(''Myiagra rubecula).'' The broad-billed flycatcher is similar in appearance to the female ''Myiagra cyanoleuca'' and has less distinct sexual dimorphism'','' while the Leaden flycatcher appears even more similar, having the same colourations of ''Myiagra cyanoleuca's'' male to female dimorphisms. The distributions of these species sets them apart; the Satin flycatcher is far more common in the south-east, whereas the other two flycatchers are distributed across

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

Description

The satin flycatcher is a small bird, around 17 cm tall, and weighing around 17g. They have a small, sharp, pointed beak used for catching small

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...

(insects). The species has sexually dimorphic characteristics; the male birds are a glossy black-blue colour, with a white belly and small crest upon their head, while the females are a dusty brown-grey colour with a bright orange chest and throat, and a white belly. They stand upright, and their tail feathers spread out to form a ‘fan’ shape.

Distribution

The satin flycatcher is most common in south-eastern Australia, where it likes to breed in the warmer months, but will live year-round on the east-coast of Australia in New South Wales, Queensland, and even

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. They also stretch along the southern coast of Australia into South Australia. They are vagrant to New Zealand.

Breeding

The satin flycatcher migrates to south-east Australia in November and remain there until early January to breed. They mate and remain in pairs over the breeding season, working together to raise their chicks. The Satin flycatcher prefers to lay their eggs in various ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

'' species in high branches (5-25m high), and often nest in similar areas to previous years. They lay two to three greenish blue with brown spotted eggs in a neat nest made of bark, spider's web and moss.

References

satin flycatcher Birds of New South Wales Birds of South Australia Birds of Tasmania Birds of Victoria (Australia) satin flycatcher Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub