Shining Flycatcher
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The shining flycatcher (''Myiagra alecto'') 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. It is found in northern Australia, and from the
Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
to the Bismarck Archipelago. 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 and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest.


Description

A long-tailed, slender songbird with fine bill. Male entirely glossy blue-black. Female a rich chestnut above, white below, with black crown and face (in poor light, may appear dark above; compare Restless and Paperbark flycatchers). Song a clear whistled “towhit-too-towhit.”


Taxonomy and systematics

The shining flycatcher was originally described in the genus '' Drymophila'' and subsequently placed by some authorities 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 ...
''. Alternate names include common shining flycatcher, shining monarch, shining monarch flycatcher, shining Myiagra and shining Myiagra-flycatcher.


Subspecies

Eight subspecies are recognized: * ''M. a. alecto'' - (
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 Temmin ...
, 1827)
: Found in northern and central Moluccas * ''M. a. longirostris'' - ( Mathews, 1928): Found on
Tanimbar Islands The Tanimbar Islands, also called ''Timur Laut'', are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the southwest of Yamdena, Larat and Ford ...
* ''M. a. rufolateralis'' - ( Gray, GR, 1858): Originally described as a separate species. Found on the
Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a ...
(south-west of
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
) * ''M. a. chalybeocephala'' - ( Lesson, R & Garnot, 1828): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''
Muscicapa ''Muscicapa'' is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of subfamily Muscicapinae. They are widespread across Europe, Africa and Asia with most species occur ...
''. Found on the western Papuan islands, New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago * ''M. a. lucida'' - Gray, GR, 1858: Originally described as a separate species. Found on the eastern Papuan islands, D'Entrecasteaux Islands 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 ...
* ''M. a. manumudari'' - (
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 sign ...
&
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 ...
, 1915)
: Found on
Manam Manam, known locally as Manam Motu, is an island located in the Bismarck Sea across the Stephan Strait from Yawar on the northeast coast of mainland Papua New Guinea's Bogia District. The island is 10 kilometers wide, and was created by ...
(off north-eastern New Guinea) * ''M. a. melvillensis'' - (Mathews, 1912): Found in north-western and north-central Australia * ''M. a. wardelli'' - (Mathews, 1911): Found in southern New Guinea, north-eastern and eastern Australia


References

shining flycatcher Birds of the Maluku Islands Birds of New Guinea Birds of the Bismarck Archipelago Birds of the Northern Territory Birds of Queensland shining flycatcher Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub