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Black-winged Monarch
(Monarcha frater)
: "Pearly Flycatcher", "Black-winged Flycatcher"
Size: 17-19 cm
Weight: 17-20 g
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Black-winged Monarchs are small to medium-sized monarchs.
They have a black frons, lores, throat patch and upper
chest, giving the impression of a black face. The eyes
are surrounded by light-grey eye-rings that connect to
equally light-grey ear coverts. The rest of the head,
the back, down to the rump, and the chest are also
light-grey. The rest of the front (lower breast to
undertail coverts) is rufous. The flight feathers and the
tail are black.
The eyes have dark-brown irises. The strong bill, the
legs and the feet are all grey.
Juveniles
have a duller front, a lighter-grey back and no black facial
mask yet.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Black-winged Monarchs have a clearly bi-coloured, light-grey and
black back, while the upperparts of
Black-faced Monarchs
are all-grey.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Black-winged
Monarch at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Black-winged Monarch is available
HERE
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Black-winged Monarchs are a partly migratory species of which
there are 4 extant races, with a total range spanning from West
Papua via Guinea to far north-eastern Australia.
Nominate race "frater" is present only in north-western New Guinea,
while race "kunupi" is found in west-central New Guinea.
Race "periophthalmicus" lives in central and south-eastern New
Guinea.
The fourth race,
"canescens", populates islands along the Torres Straight and
far north-eastern Australia.
In Australia only Black-winged Monarchs of race
"canescens" exist.
They populate only the eastern
part of Cape York peninsula, to about Daintree NP, QLD, in
the South.
Black-winged Monarchs are usually found in low to highland
rainforest,
often in the low and middle storey.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "canescens"
B. Hensen reports finding Black-winged Monarchs, race
"canescens",
at Iron Range NP, QLD, in December 2018.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has been kindly contributed by B. Hensen.
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Photos |
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Race "canescens"
This race, which was previously treated as a separate species,
is also called the "Pearly Flycatcher".
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ADULT |
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MALE |
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Frontal view of a male(?) Black-winged Monarch - note the
black "shoulders"; because of the bold colour
contrast between light-grey and deep rufous this bird
may be a male
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]
Lateral view of a male(?) Black-winged Monarch - note the
black wing feathers; because of the bold colour
contrast between light-grey and deep rufous this bird
may be a male
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]
Near-dorsal view of a male(?) Black-winged Monarch - note the
rufous patch on the rump, which is not described in field guides
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]
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FEMALE |
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Near-frontal view of a female(?) Black-winged Monarch; based on the
slightly duller colours compared to the individual shown above
this bird may be a female (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]
Lateral view of a female(?) Black-winged Monarch
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]
Lateral/ventral view of a female(?) Black-winged Monarch
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]
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Food, Diet |
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Lateral view of a male(?) Black-winged Monarch that has just
devoured its prey, a flying insect
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.