The slaty monarch (''Mayrornis lessoni'') is a species 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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The slaty monarch was originally described in the genus ''

Rhipidura Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family (biology), family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders ...

''. Alternate names include cinereous flycatcher, Fiji flycatcher, Fiji slaty flycatcher, slaty flycatcher (an alternate name shared with the

Vanikoro monarch The Vanikoro monarch (''Mayrornis schistaceus'') is a species of bird in the Monarch flycatcher, monarch family Endemism, endemic to the Santa Cruz Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and it is threatened ...

) and white-tipped slaty flycatcher.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies recognized: * ''M. l. lessoni'' - ( G.R. Gray, 1846): found in western and central Fiji Islands * ''M. l. orientalis'' - Mayr, 1933: found in eastern Fiji Islands

References

Mayrornis Endemic birds of Fiji Birds described in 1846 Taxa named by George Robert Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub