Editing Monarch flycatcher

{{Short description|Family of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name              = Monarchidae
| image             = Zoiseau la vierge1.JPG
| image_caption     = [[Mascarene paradise flycatcher]] (''Terpsiphone bourbonnensis'')
| taxon             = Monarchidae
| authority         = [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1854
| synonyms          =
*Grallinidae {{small|[[Ernst Mayr|Mayr]], 1950}}
| synonyms_ref      = <ref>{{ITIS|id=553444|taxon=Monarchidae|access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
| subdivision       = 
* Terpsiphoninae
* Monarchinae
}}

The '''monarchs''' (family '''Monarchidae''') comprise a family of over 100 [[passerine]] birds which includes [[shrikebill]]s, [[paradise flycatcher]]s, and [[Grallina|magpie-lark]]s.

Monarchids are small [[insectivore|insectivorous]] songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland across sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia, Australasia, and a number of Pacific islands. Only a few species migrate. Many species decorate their cup-shaped nests with lichen.<ref name="EoB">{{cite book | editor-last = Forshaw | editor-first = Joseph | last = Garnett | first = Stephen | year = 1991 | title = Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds | publisher = Merehurst Press | location = London | pages = 200–201 | isbn = 1-85391-186-0 }}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==
Some of the one hundred or more [[species]] making up the family were previously assigned to other groups, largely on the basis of general morphology or behaviour. The [[magpie-lark]], for example, was assigned to the same family as the [[white-winged chough]], since both build unusual nests from mud rather than vegetable matter. That family, Grallinidae, is now considered a [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonym]] of Monarchidae. It was formerly considered to have four species. The [[magpie-lark]]  and the [[torrent-lark]] were moved into Monarchidae, into the genus ''[[Grallina]]'', on the basis of molecular evidence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/monarchs.html |title=Monarchs |last=Roberson |first=Don |date=9 March 2012 |website=creagrus.home.montereybay.com |access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref>  The white-winged chough and the [[apostlebird]] were assigned to the family [[Corcoracidae]].

With the new insights generated by the [[DNA-DNA hybridisation]] studies of [[Charles Sibley|Sibley]] and his co-workers toward the end of the 20th century, however, it became clear that these apparently unrelated birds were all descended from a common ancestor: the same crow-like ancestor that gave rise to the [[drongo]]s.<ref>[[Charles Sibley|Sibley, Charles Gald]] & [[Jon Edward Ahlquist|Ahlquist, Jon Edward]] (1990): ''Phylogeny and classification of birds''. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.</ref> On that basis they were previously included as a subfamily of the [[Dicruridae]], along with the [[fantail]]s,<ref name="CB94">{{cite book | title = The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories | last1 = Christidis | first1 = L. | last2 = Boles | first2 = W. E. | year = 1994 | publisher = RAOU | location = Melbourne }}</ref> although it is now treated at familial rank as Monarchidae.<ref name="CB08">{{cite book | title = Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds | last1 = Christidis | first1 = L. | last2 = Boles | first2 = W. E. | year = 2008 | publisher = CSIRO Publishing | location = Canberra | isbn = 978-0-643-06511-6 | page = 174 }}</ref>

More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat as the original concept of Corvida has proven [[paraphyletic]]. The narrower 'Core corvine' group now comprises the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarchs, drongos, and mud nest builders.<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Cracraft J, Barker FK, Braun M, Harshman J, Dyke GJ, Feinstein J, Stanley S, Cibois A, Schikler P, Beresford P, García-Moreno J, Sorenson MD, Yuri T, Mindell DP |veditors=Cracraft J, Donoghue MJ | title = Assembling the tree of life | year = 2004 | publisher = Oxford Univ. Press | location = New York | isbn = 0-19-517234-5 | pages = 468–89 | chapter = Phylogenetic relationships among modern birds (Neornithes): toward an avian tree of life }}</ref>

The monarchs are small to medium-sized insectivorous [[passerine]]s, many of which hunt by [[hawking (birds)|flycatching]].

=== Taxonomic list ===
The monarch family has fifteen genera as follows:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=P | year=2021 | title = World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=1 August 2021 | doi=10.14344/IOC.ML.11.2 }}</ref>

'''FAMILY MONARCHIDAE'''
* Subfamily '''Terpsiphoninae'''[[File:Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi)- male W IMG 9283.jpg|190px|thumb|[[Indian paradise flycatcher]] male at [[Ananthagiri Hills]], in [[Rangareddy district]] of [[Andhra Pradesh]], India.]]
** Genus ''[[Hypothymis]]'' (4 species)
** Genus ''[[Trochocercus]]'' (2 species)
** Genus ''[[Terpsiphone]]'' – typical paradise flycatchers (17 species)
* Subfamily '''Monarchinae'''
** Genus ''[[Chasiempis]]'' (3 species)
** Genus ''[[Pomarea]]'' (9 species of which 3 extinct)
** Genus ''[[Mayrornis]]'' (3 species)
** Genus ''[[Buff-bellied monarch|Neolalage]]'' – buff-bellied monarch
** Genus ''[[Clytorhynchus]]'' – shrikebills (5 species)
** Genus ''[[Chuuk monarch|Metabolus]]'' – Chuuk monarch
** Genus ''[[Symposiachrus]]'' (23 species)
** Genus ''[[Monarcha]]'' (9 species)<!--hack; keep image on same line to avoid disrupting the bulleted-list -->[[File:Blackfacedmonarch.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Black-faced monarch]]]] 
** Genus ''[[Carterornis]]'' (4 species)
** Genus ''[[Arses (genus)|Arses]]'' (4 species)
** Genus ''[[Grallina]]'' – magpie-larks (2 species)
** Genus ''[[Myiagra]]'' – broad-billed flycatchers (20 species of which 1 extinct)<!-- Auk118:472 --><!--hack; keep image on same line to avoid disrupting the bulleted-list -->[[File:Broad billed flycatcher1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Broad-billed flycatcher]]]]

== Description ==
The monarchs are a diverse family of [[passerine]] birds that are generally arboreal (with the exception of the [[Grallina|magpie-larks]]). They are mostly slim birds and possess broad [[Beak|bill]]s. The bills of some species are quite large and the heavy-set bills of the [[shrikebill]]s are used to probe dead wood and leaves.<ref name = "shrikebill">{{cite journal | title = The Pacific shrikebills (''Clytorhynchus'') and the case for species status for the form ''sanctaecrucis'' | journal = Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | year = 2006 | first = Guy | last = Duston | volume = 126 | issue = 4 | pages = 299–308 | url = http://www.melanesiangeo.org/resources/BBOC%20shrikebills%5B1%5D.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090105160047/http://www.melanesiangeo.org/resources/BBOC%20shrikebills%5B1%5D.pdf | archive-date = 2009-01-05 | url-status = usurped }}</ref> The [[plumage]] of the family ranges from sombre, such as the almost monochrome [[black monarch]], to spectacular, as displayed by the [[golden monarch]]. The tails are generally long and spectacularly so in the paradise flycatchers in the genus ''[[Terpsiphone]]''. [[Sexual dimorphism]] in plumage can be subtle, as in the [[paperbark flycatcher]], where the female is identical to the male except for a slight buff on the throat; strikingly, in the [[Chuuk monarch]], where the male is almost entirely white and the female entirely black; or non-existent, as in the [[Tahiti monarch]]. In some species, for example, the [[Malagasy paradise flycatcher]], the males have two or more colour morphs.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Ontogeny of male plumage dichromatism in Madagascar paradise flycatchers ''Terpsiphone mutata'' | journal = Journal of Avian Biology | year = 2003 | first = Raoul | last = Mulder |author2=Robert Ramiarison |author3=Rayonné E. Emahalala | volume = 33 | issue = 4 | pages = 342–348 | doi = 10.1034/j.1600-048X.2002.02888.x }}</ref>

== Distribution and habitat ==
[[File:Satinflycatcher1.jpg|thumb|The [[satin flycatcher]] is fully migratory, breeding in southern Australia and migrating to northern Australia and New Guinea.]]
[[File:Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis puella puella) female on nest.jpg|thumb|Female [[pale-blue monarch]] on a nest constructed on forked branch]]

The monarchs have a mostly Old World distribution. In the western end of their range, they are distributed through sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and the islands of the tropical Indian Ocean. They also occur in South and Southeastern Asia, north to Japan, down to [[New Guinea]], and most of Australia. The family has managed to reach many Pacific islands, and several endemic genera occur across [[Micronesia]], [[Melanesia]], and [[Polynesia]] as far as [[Hawaii]] and the [[Marquesas Islands|Marquesas]].

The paradise flycatchers of the genus ''[[Terpsiphone]]'' have the widest distribution of any of the monarchs, ranging across almost all of sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, the [[Mascarenes]] and [[Seychelles]], southern and eastern Asia as far as Korea, Afghanistan, the Philippines,  and the [[Lesser Sundas]]. The other paradise flycatcher genus, ''[[Trochocercus]]'', is restricted to Africa. The other exclusively Asian genus is the ''[[Hypothymis]]'' monarchs. The remaining genera are predominantly found in the Austro-Papuan and Oceania regions. A few monotypic genera are restricted to Pacific islands; these include the Chuuk monarch (''Metabolus'') in the Micronesian island of [[Chuuk Lagoon|Chuuk]], the Hawaiian [[Elepaio]] (''Chasiempis''), and the [[buff-bellied monarch]] (''Neolalage'') which is restricted to the islands of [[Vanuatu]]. Other Pacific genera are the shrikebills (''[[Clytorhynchus]]'') and the ''[[Mayrornis]]'' monarchs, both of which are found in Melanesia and west Polynesia, and the ''[[Pomarea]]'' monarchs, which are exclusively Polynesian in origin.

The majority of the family is found in forests and woodland habitats. Species that live in more open woodlands tend to live in the higher levels of the trees but, in denser forest, live in the middle and lower levels. Other habitats used by the monarchs include savannahs and mangroves, and the terrestrial magpie-lark occurs in most Australian habitats except the driest deserts.

While the majority of monarchs are resident, a few species are partially [[bird migration|migratory]] and one, the [[satin flycatcher]], is fully migratory, although the [[Japanese paradise flycatcher]] is almost entirely migratory. The [[African paradise flycatcher]] makes a series of poorly understood intra-African migratory movements.

== Breeding ==

The monarchs are generally [[monogamy in animals|monogamous]], with the pair bonds ranging from just a single season (as in the African paradise flycatcher) to life (the [[Elepaio]]). Only three species are known to engage in cooperative breeding, but many species are as yet unstudied. They are generally [[Territory (animal)|territorial]], defending territories that are around 2 ha in size, but a few species may cluster their [[Bird nest|nesting sites]] closely together. Nesting sites may also be chosen close to aggressive species. For example, [[leaden flycatcher]]s' nests may be located near the nests of the aggressive [[noisy friarbird]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Marchant | first = S | year = 1983 | title = Suggested nesting association between Leaden Flycatchers and Noisy Friarbirds | journal = Emu | volume = 83 | issue = 2 | pages = 119–122 | doi = 10.1071/MU9830119 }}</ref> The nests are in turn often aggressively defended by monarch species. In all species, the nest is an open cup on a branch, fork, or twig. In some species, the nests can be highly conspicuous.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book
  | editor-last = del Hoyo
  | editor-first = J.
  | editor2-last = Elliott
  | editor2-first = A.
  | editor3-last = Christie
  | editor3-first = D.
  | year = 2006
  | title = Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers
  | publisher = Lynx Edicions
  | location = Barcelona
  | isbn = 84-96553-06-X
  }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Monarchidae}}
*[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/monarch-flycatchers-monarchidae Monarch flycatcher videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Monarchidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q681374}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Birds described in 1854]]
[[Category:Monarchidae|*]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte]]