BIRDGACHA / FIELD NOTES

Monarchs

Monarchs include monarch flycatchers, paradise-flycatchers and magpie-larks, producing a wide variety of shapes and colour patterns. Broad-based bills support insect capture, while crests, eye markings and tail length differ greatly. Examples include Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea), Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher (Trochocercus cyanomelas), and Bedford's Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone bedfordi). Some paradise-flycatchers develop spectacular elongated male tails; many other monarchs retain compact proportions. Gleaning from foliage and brief sallies both occur. The word flycatcher describes a feeding habit shared with several unrelated bird families, so it provides less taxonomic precision than the scientific family name.

How to recognize Monarchs

Bill: broad-based insect-catching bills.
Outline: varied crests and sometimes elongated tails.
Feeding: gleaning insects and making short catching flights.

Where they live

Warm parts of Africa, Asia, Australasia and numerous islands hold monarchs. Forest interiors, edges, mangroves and wooded settlements support different species, while magpie-larks also use more open settings. Many island monarchs have restricted ranges and depend on remaining native vegetation. In forest, feeding height and foliage density influence which species are encountered; a long-tailed paradise-flycatcher and a small island monarch may occupy quite different local niches.

Species accounts: Black-naped Monarch · Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher · Bedford's Paradise Flycatcher

Sources — natural history: Wikipedia: Monarchs natural history · Cornell Birds of the World: Black-naped Monarch species account · Don Roberson: Monarchs field observations and natural history.

Classification: IOC World Bird List: family names and classification.

Some Cornell Birds of the World account sections require a subscription.

Updated 2026-11-06. Species counts follow this site's catalogue. This is an editorial summary, not an expert peer review.