The white-collared monarch (''Symposiachrus vidua'') 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 found in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

of Ugi and

Makira The island of Makira (also known as San Cristobal and San Cristóbal) is the largest island of Makira-Ulawa Province in the Solomon Islands. It is third most populous island after Malaita and Guadalcanal, with a population of 55,126 as of 2020 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

This species was originally described as belonging to the genus ''Piezorhynchus'' (a synonym for ''

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 182 ...

'') and subsequently classified 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 ...

'' prior to being moved to ''Symposiachrus'' in 2009. Alternate names include the San Cristobal monarch and scaled monarch.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies recognized: * ''S. v. squamulatus'' - ( Tristram, 1882): Originally described as a separate species in the genus '' Piezorhynchus''. Found on

Ugi Island Ugi Island, also Uki Island (or Uki Ni Masi), is an island in Solomon Islands; it is located in Makira-Ulawa Province and lies 11 km north of Makira Island. Geography Ugi Island is a raised coral reef about 10.5 km long and 6.5 km ...

* ''S. v. vidua'' - (Tristram, 1879): Found on

References

white-collared monarch Birds of Makira white-collared monarch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Solomons-stub