Frill-necked Monarch
Arses lorealis
Small black-and-white flycatcher found in wetter forests of northern Cape York. Completely white underparts, with black mask, tail, and wings, blue eyering, and back back with white band. Rear of head has large puffy white collar (like a space helmet). Compare Pied Monarch, which has a broad black breast band. Forages treecreeper-style, moving up and down tree trunks looking for insects in the bark. Calls include repeated nasal buzzing sounds.
Identification
The frill-necked monarch measures around 14 cm (5.5 in) in length, and the neck feathers can become erect into a small frill; the male is predominantly black and white, and can be distinguished from the similar and more common pied monarch by its all-white breast-the latter species having a broad black breast band. The throat, nape, shoulders, and rump are white while the wings and head are black. It has an eye-ring of bare skin, and a bright blue wattle. The bill is pale blue-grey and the eyes are dark. The female is similar but has white lores and chin.
Taxonomy
The frill-necked monarch was first described in 1895 by English ornithologist and ex-clergyman Charles Walter De Vis, from a specimen collected by Kendall Broadbent that year. However, undescribed specimens had existed in the Macleay Museum in Sydney and the National Museum in Melbourne for twenty years beforehand. The first eggs were collected by H. G. Barnard the following year in Somerset, Cape York.<p>The frill-necked monarch is a member of a group of birds termed monarch flycatchers. This group is considered either as a subfamily Monarchinae, together with the fantails as part of the drongo family Dicruridae, or as a family Monarchidae in its own right. Molecular research in the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed the monarchs belong to a large group of mainly Australasian birds known as the Corvida parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines. More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat as the monarchs have been classified in a 'Core corvine' group with the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, drongos and mudnest builders.<p>Alternative common names include the frilled-necked monarch and frill-necked flycatcher.<p>Some authorities consider the frill-necked monarch as a subspecies of the frilled monarch.
- Scientific name
- Arses lorealis
- Authority
- De Vis, 1895
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Arses
Range and habitat
The range is from the top of Australia's Cape York Peninsula southwest to Weipa, and southeast as far as the Iron Range and Coen. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and tropical moist montane forests.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Prong-billed Barbet
Semnornis frantzii
Strange brownish-yellow bird with thick silver bill and chunky body. Face and neck warm ochre; flanks silvery-gray. Unlikely to be mistaken for any other species given overall color and bill shape. Often in pairs; found in montane forests, usually at midstory or in the canopy. Listen for funny honking duet.
Pale-breasted Illadopsis
Illadopsis rufipennis
A chunky, mid-sized, remarkably drab babbler with a white throat and brownish breast. Found in the understory of rainforest at low and middle elevations, usually in small groups. Shy and skulking; rarely seen unless searched for. Very similar to Brown Illadopsis, but slightly different vocally, with higher and more inflected whistles. Also slightly paler below and more richly colored above, with a cleaner white throat. Most often detected by voice. The highly variable song consists of single-note pure whistles or short whistled phrases separated by pauses, often in a three-note ascending series; listen for a haunting clear monotone whistle. Also gives scolding calls, sometimes accompanying the whistled song.
Rufous-bellied Kookaburra
Dacelo gaudichaud
A distinctive large kingfisher of lowland forest. Black cap, white collar, blue wing and rump, and rufous belly. Found in the understorey where it scans for its prey of lizards and insects. Superficially similar to the much rarer Shovel-billed Kookaburra, but Rufous-bellied Kookaburra has a blue rather than brown wing, and a longer, paler bill. Several different vocalizations. Call, a repeated, harsh, loud “rek!” note given while flicking its tail slightly; and a hollow rolling call given whilst lifting its tail right up.
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