''Monarcha'' is a genus of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Monarchidae The monarchs or monarch flycatchers (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and Grallina, magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivore, insectivorous songbirds with l ...

. They are found in Australia and

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus ''Monarcha'' was introduced by naturalists Nicholas Vigors and

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and natural history, naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the Eas ...

in 1827 with the black-faced monarch (''Monarcha melanopsis'') as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The genus formerly included many more species. Based on the results of a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2005 nineteen species were moved to the resurrected genus ''

Symposiachrus ''Symposiachrus'' is a genus of birds in the family Monarchidae. Most species are endemic to islands in Melanesia but the spectacled monarch is widely distributed and occurs in parts of Indonesia and western Australia. The genus was previously l ...

'' and three to ''

Carterornis ''Carterornis'' is a genus of birds in the family Monarchidae that are found in Australia and Melanesia. Taxonomy When the genus ''Monarcha'' was split based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2005, 3 species were move ...

''.

Extant species

The genus ''Monarcha'' contains the following seven species:

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Monarcha'': *

Black-naped monarch The black-naped monarch or black-naped blue flycatcher (''Hypothymis azurea'') is a passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers found in southern and south-eastern Asia. They are sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic, with the ...

(as ''Monarcha azurea'') *

Rarotonga monarch The Rarotonga monarch (''Pomarea dimidiata''), also known as the Rarotonga flycatcher or Kākerōri, is a species of bird in the monarch flycatcher family Monarchidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Rarotonga, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, and has been I ...

(as ''Monarches dimidiatus'') * Marquesan monarch (as ''Monarcha mendozae'') * Black monarch (as ''Monarcha axillaris'') * Black-bibbed monarch (as ''Monarcha mundus'') * Flores monarch (as ''Monarcha sacerdotum'') * Boano monarch (as ''Monarcha boanensis'') * Spectacled monarch (as ''Monarcha trivirgatus'') * Spectacled monarch (Seram) (as ''Monarcha nigrimentum'') * Spectacled monarch (bernsteinii) (as ''Monarcha bernsteini'') * Spectacled monarch (melanopterus) (as ''Monarcha melanoptera'') * Spectacled monarch (albiventris) (as ''Monarcha albiventris'') * Spectacled monarch (gouldii) (as ''Monarcha gouldii'') * Kai monarch (as ''Monarcha leucurus'') * Tanahjampea monarch (as ''Monarcha everetti'') * Kofiau monarch (as ''Monarcha julianae'') *

Biak monarch The Biak monarch (''Symposiachrus brehmii''), or Biak monarch flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to Biak Island, Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threat ...

(as ''Monarcha brehmii'') * Manus monarch (as ''Monarcha infelix'') * Mussau monarch (as ''Monarcha menckei'') * Black-tailed monarch (as ''Monarcha verticalis'') * Djaul monarch (as ''Monarcha ateralba'') * Solomons monarch (as ''Monarcha barbata'') * Malaita monarch (as ''Monarcha malaitae'') * Kolombangara monarch (as ''Monarcha browni'' or ''Monarcha kulambangrae'') * Kolombangara monarch (nigrotectus) (as ''Monarcha nigrotectus'') * White-collared monarch (as ''Monarcha vidua'' or ''Monarcha viduus'') *

White-eared monarch The white-eared monarch (''Carterornis leucotis''), or white-eared flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to north-eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A ...

(as ''Monarcha leucotis'') * White-naped monarch (as ''Monarcha pileatus'') * White-naped monarch (buruensis) (as ''Monarcha buruensis'') * Tanimbar monarch (as ''Monarcha castus'') *

Golden monarch The golden monarch (''Carterornis chrysomela'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Monarchidae found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. ...

(as ''Monarcha chrysomela'') * Golden monarch (aruensis) (as ''Monarcha aruensis'') * Golden monarch (melanonotus) (as ''Monarcha melanonotus'') * Golden monarch (kordensis) (as ''Monarcha kordensis'') *

Ochre-collared monarch The ochre-collared monarch or rufous-collared monarch (''Arses insularis'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found in Yapen and northern New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and s ...

(as ''Monarcha insularis'') * Shining flycatcher (as ''Monarcha alecto'') * Velvet flycatcher (as ''Monarcha hebetior'')

References

Monarchidae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Bird genera Long stubs with short prose {{Monarchidae-stub