Common in north-eastern Qld, migrant to south-east Qld and north-eastern NSW.
Habitat
Mainly rainforests with low, dense vegetation, and also moist or wet sclerophyll forests. Occasionally in mangroves, drier sclerophyll forests, woodlands, parks and gardens.
Nest
A deep untidy cup composed of fine bark and moss, liberally bound with cobweb, lined with soft plant fiber and decorated on the outside with lichen, in the upright fork of a sapling, usually only a few meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2; dull or glossy, cream to pale pink, freckled with red-brown and underlying purple, particularly at the larger end; long-oval; about 21 x 16 mm. Incubation: about 15 - 17 days; probably by female only.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 17 - 20 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Distinctive subspecies diadematus and bimaculatus have been proposed as comprising a separate species. Birds of Morotai formerly separated as subspecies morotensis, but now included within bimaculatus; birds from Gorong (off eastern Seram) described as subspecies wellsi, but considered indistinguishable from nigrimentum.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
bimaculatus (Temminck, 1826) - Morotai, Halmahera and Bacan, in northern Moluccas. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Moluccan Monarch (Symposiachrus bimaculatus).
diadematus Salvadori, 1878 - Bisa I and Obi. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Moluccan Monarch (Symposiachrus bimaculatus).
bernsteinii Salvadori, 1878 - Salawati I, in extreme north-western New Guinea.
nigrimentum (Gray, GR, 1861) - Seram and Ambon east to Seram Laut and Watubela Is (Kasiui), in southern Moluccas.
trivirgatus (Temminck, 1826) - Central and eastern Lesser Sundas (Flores, Sumba, Lomblen, Alor, Wetar, Romang, Damar, Kisang, Jaco, Timor, Semau).
melanopterus (Gray, GR, 1858) - Louisiade Archipelago and satellite islands.
albiventris (Gould, 1866) - Islands in Torres Strait, and northern Australia (north-eastern Cape York Peninsula south to McIlwraith Range and R Stewart).
melanorrhous (Schodde & Mason, IJ, 1999) - North-eastern Queensland (R Annan south to Seaview Range), in north-eastern Australia.
gouldii (Gray, GR, 1861) - Breeds coasts of east-central and south-eastern Queensland and New South Wales (Shoalwater Bay south to about Sydney). Non-breeding Cape York Peninsula and southern New Guinea (Trans-Fly region).
wellsi Ogilvie-Grant, 1911 - Seram Laut Is. (Gorong, Manawoka) and Watubela Is. (Kasiui).
Similar Species
Black-faced Monarch (Monarcha melanopsis) which has less black on the face and has a grey breast and Black-winged Monarch (Monarcha frater) which also has less black on the face, a grey breast and black wings and upper tail.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet