The short-crested monarch (''Hypothymis helenae'') 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

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is found in tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Description and Taxonomy

EBird describes the bird as "A fairly small bird of lowland and foothill forest understory. Male has deep-blue upperparts, head, and chest and a white belly. Told from Black-naped Monarch by its black mark between the eye and bill and from Celestial Monarch by its shorter, bushy crest. Female is told from other monarchs by its gray-blue upperparts. Song is a series of clear piping notes, increasing in volume. Also gives a 2- to 3-note call of sharp rasping notes with the first note higher-pitched." It is often seen in mixed species

flocks Flocking is the behaviour exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight. Computer simulations and mathematical models that have been developed to emulate the flocking behaviours of birds can also generally be applie ...

along with other birds such as

Blue-headed fantail The blue-headed fantail (''Rhipidura cyaniceps'') is a fantail endemic to the northern Philippines where it is found on the islands of Luzon and Catanduanes. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with the Tablas fantail and Visayan fantai ...

Rufous paradise flycatcher The rufous paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone cinnamomea'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in Indonesia and the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Taxonomy and systema ...

Sulphur-billed nuthatch The sulphur-billed nuthatch (''Sitta oenochlamys'') is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane for ...

and other small forest birds. Alternate names for the short-crested monarch include the paradise flycatcher monarch and short-crested blue-monarch.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized: * ''H. h. agusanae'' - Rand, 1970): Found on Dinagat Island, Siargao and eastern

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

(east-central and south-eastern Philippines) * ''H. h. helenae'' - ( Steere, 1890): Found on

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, Polillo Island, Catanduanes and

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

(northern Philippines) * Camiguin blue-monarch (''H. h. personata'') or Camiguin monarch - (

McGregor McGregor may refer to: People * McGregor (surname) * Clan MacGregor, a Scottish highland clan * McGregor W. Scott (born 1962), U.S. attorney Characters * Mr. McGregor, a fictional character from Peter Rabbit Places in Canada: * McGregor Lake, ...

, 1907): Originally described as a separate species. Found on Camiguin Norte (northern Philippines) and squeals."

Habitat and Conservation Status

This species is poorly known, but is reported to occupy the understorey of forest below 1,000 m. It is said to be more common on smaller islands such as Camiguin. IUCN has assessed this bird as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

This species' main threat is

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 ...

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range.

References

short-crested monarch Endemic birds of the Philippines short-crested monarch Taxa named by Joseph Beal Steere Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub