The velvet flycatcher (''Myiagra eichhorni'') 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 ...

. It is

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 ...

to New Hanover, New Ireland &

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

. 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 ...

s are 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, ...

s and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

Taxonomy

The velvet flycatcher was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

in 1924 by the German ornithologist

Ernst Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married the illustrat ...

based on a specimen that had been collected on the island of New Hanover in the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

by the Australian farmer Albert Frederic Eichhorn (1882-1931). Hartert considered the specimen to represent a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the Mussau flycatcher which he placed 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 Aylward Vigors, Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in ...

'' and coined the

trinomial name In biology, trinomial nomenclature is the system of names for taxa below the rank of species. These names have three parts. The usage is different in zoology and botany. In zoology In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen (), trinominal name, or t ...

''Monarcha hebetior eichhorni''. The velvet flycatcher is now one of around 20 species placed in the genus ''

Myiagra ''Myiagra'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family monarch flycatcher, Monarchidae, the monarch flycatchers, native to Australasia, sometimes referred to as the broad-billed flycatchers or simply broadbills. Taxonomy The genus ''Myiagra'' w ...

'' that was introduced in 1827 by 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 ...

. Two subspecies are recognised: * ''M. e. eichhorni'' ( Hartert, EJO, 1924) – New Hanover (=

New Hanover Island New Hanover Island, (), also called Lavongai, is a large volcanic island in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. This region is part of the Bismarck Archipelago and lies at . Measuring some , it had a population of 5,000 in 1960, which ...

), New Ireland,

and Watom (north of northeast

) (east

) * ''M. e. cervinicolor'' ( Salomonsen, 1964) –

Dyaul Island Dyaul Island (also Djaul) is an island in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. Its area is . The inhabitants live mainly in seven villages, and frequently visit Kavieng Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Irel ...

(south of northwest New Ireland, northeast

) The subspecies ''M. e. cervinicolor'' has sometimes been considered as a separate species, the Dyaul flycatcher.

References

velvet flycatcher Birds of the Bismarck Archipelago velvet flycatcher Taxa named by Ernst Hartert Endemic birds of Papua New Guinea {{Monarchidae-stub