Black-faced Monarch
Scientific Name: Monarcha melanopsis
Size: 16 to 19 cm
What does it look and sound like?
This beautiful bird, with blue-grey head, throat and upperparts, black face and russet underparts, is perhaps the most familiar of the monarchs. The Black-faced Monarch is similar in colouration to both the Spectacled and Black-winged Monarchs. It’s call is a distinctive “why-you-which-yew”.
Where is it found?
It is found along the eastern coast, south to Melbourne, while the White-faced Monarch occurs north of the Queensland-New South Wales border, and the Spectacled Monarch occurs north of the New South Wales-Victoria Border. The rare Black-winged Monarch is only found in the northern Cape York region as a summer breeding migrant from New Guinea.
What are its habitats & habits?
he Black-faced Monarch inhabits rainforests and wet forests. It is a highly migratory species. Most birds winter in northern Queensland and New Guinea, and return to the southern breeding areas in August and September. Some individuals, however, remain in the same area for the entire year.
Interesting facts
Within Australia there are two distinct groups of monarchs. The first, which contains the Black-faced Monarch, consists of three similarly coloured species and one species, the White-eared Monarch, which is black and white. The other monarch group are also black and white in plumage, but have fleshy blue rings of skin around the eye. There are two members of this second group, and both inhabit rainforests in restricted areas of Northern Queensland.
This species features in my book Australia’s Birdwatching Megaspots
