The Tahiti monarch (''Pomarea nigra''), or Tahiti flycatcher, is a rare 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

monarch flycatcher 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 ...

family. 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 else ...

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

in French Polynesia. There are between 25 and 100 individuals remaining with an increasing population trend.''Pomarea nigra''
BirdLife International Species Profile. Retrieved 27 January 2022.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Tahiti monarch was originally described 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 ...

''. Formerly, the Maupiti monarch was considered as a subspecies of the Tahiti monarch until re-classified as separate species in 2012.

Description

This bird is 15 centimeters long and black in color with a pale blue bill. The juvenile is reddish brown. The call sounds like ''tick-tick-tick'' and the

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

is "flute-like".

Distribution and habitat

This bird is found in only four valleys in Tahiti. It lives in the canopy and understory in forests among mara trees (''Neonauclea forsteri'').

Threats

Threats to the species include the degradation of its forest habitat by the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

of exotic plant species, including '' Miconia calvescens'' and '' Spathodea campanulata''. The forest is also degraded by

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

activity. Predation by rats and cats is a threat. The Tahiti kingfisher (''Todiramphus veneratus'') is a

competitor Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1766815 Pomarea Endemic birds of Tahiti Birds described in 1786 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot