Hypothymis coelestis
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The celestial monarch (''Hypothymis coelestis'') is a species of bird 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 ...
, and one of the most attractive of all the monarch flycatchers, with its spectacular blue
crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...
and large greenish-yellow
wattle Wattle or wattles may refer to: Plants *''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa **''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia **Black wattle, c ...
. It is endemic to the Philippines with its extant range being in Luzon, Samar, Mindanao Tawi-Tawi and Basilan and it being possibly extinct on
Negros Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
and
Sibuyan Island Sibuyan is a crescent-shaped island, the second largest in an archipelago comprising Romblon Province, Philippines. Located in the namesake Sibuyan Sea, it has an area of and has a total population of 62,815 as of 2020 census. The island has t ...
. It is often observed in mixed flocks with other birds such as blue fantails, rusty-crowned babblers, rufous paradise flycatchers, both short-crested monarchs and black-naped monarchs and other small forest birds. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests up to 750 masl. It is one of the most sought after birds by birdwatchers in the Philippines and in the world.


Description and taxonomy

Ebird describes the celestial monarch as "A fairly small, rather long-tailed bird of lowland forest. Has turquoise wings and tail, an indigo chest and neck, a pale blue crown and crest, and a white belly. The male is brighter blue and has a longer crest than the female. Similar to Black-naped monarch but has a crest. Also similar to,
Short-crested monarch The short-crested monarch (''Hypothymis helenae'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. It is found in tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss. Description and Taxonomy EBi ...
, but is paler blue with a longer crest. Song is a short series of clear piping notes, ”pii-pii-pii.” These birds exhibit sexual dimorphism in which the males have much longer crests and a more intense coloration overall while the females having shorter crests, less intense blue colors and a generally smaller size. Males are known to raise their crests when agitated, usually seen in response hearing other males or sensing a threat. The diet of the celestial monarch consists of insects. An alternate name for the celestial monarch is the celestial blue monarch.


Subspecies

Two
subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognized: * ''H. c. coelestis'' -
Tweeddale Tweeddale (Scottish Gaelic: ''Srath Thuaidh/Tuaidhdail'') is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local gov ...
, 1877
: Found on Luzon, Samar, Dinagat, Mindanao, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi. * ''H. c. rabori'' - Rand, 1970: Found on
Sibuyan Sibuyan is a crescent-shaped island, the second largest in an archipelago comprising Romblon Province, Philippines. Located in the namesake Sibuyan Sea, it has an area of and has a total population of 62,815 as of 2020 census. The island has t ...
and
Negros Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
. This subspecies has not been recorded in Negros since 1959 and in Sibuyan in the 1990s and may now be extinct.


Habitat and conservation status

Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests up to 750 meters above sea level but usually much lower. It is believed to be a
riverine A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
specialist especially in areas with a distinct dry season. It is often seen in the canopy. IUCN has assessed this bird as
vulnerable Vulnerable may refer to: General * Vulnerability * Vulnerability (computing) * Vulnerable adult * Vulnerable species Music Albums * ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997 * ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003 * ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...
with estimates the population to be just 1,000 to 2,499 mature individuals remaining with the population continuing to decrease due to habitat loss. Lowland forests is the most threatened type of forest in the country. This is due to them being deforested for high-value lumber and destroyed through Slash-and-burn or ''kaigin''. This bird is now extremely rare in Luzon with most records now being in Mindanao and Samar. Majority of the records in Mindanao are in Bislig, Surigao del Sur which has faced rapid destruction in the past few years after the company that once owned a concession was closed down in 2005 and was overrun with illegal logging and converted into exotic monoculture plantations which cannot support these birds. This beautiful insectivore is declining rapidly, with recent surveys revealing its presence at only 10 sites with many local extinctions occurring in its former range. The West Visayas sub-species ''rabori'' is now feared extinct. Widespread and continuing reduction of its lowland habitat leaves its population severely fragmented and its status is vulnerable according to the Red Data Book of Threatened Birds of Asia.The Philippine Red List goes further lists the celestial monarch as critically endangered. It has been recently recorded in the protected areas in the
Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park The Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park is the largest protected area of the Philippines covering the northern range of the Sierra Madre mountains of eastern Luzon. The park is located in the eastern part of the province of Isabela in Cagayan Vall ...
and
Samar Island Natural Park The Samar Island Natural Park, in Samar, is the largest contiguous tract of old-growth forest in the Philippines. It is the country's largest terrestrial protected area, with an area of . The buffer is spread north to south over the island's three ...
and two further sites proposed for conservation funding on Tawi-Tawi and Dinagat Islands. However, these "protected" areas face lax protection and enforcement from Illegal logging and
land conversion Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpose ...
. there are no species specific conservation plans.


References

* del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (2006) Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. * Burnie, D. (2001) Animal. Dorling Kindersley, London. * Mittermeier, R.A., Gil, P.R., Hoffmann, M., Pilgrim, J., Brooks, T., Mittermeier, C.G., Lamoreux, J. and Da Fonseca, G.A.B. (2004) Hotspots Revisited. CEMEX, Mexico City. *Allen (2020), Birds of the Philippines p.254


External links


BirdLife Species Factsheet.Celestial Monarch videos
on the Internet Bird Collection. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3153924 celestial monarch Endemic birds of the Philippines celestial monarch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot