Celestial monarch
Celestial monarch | |
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Male seen in Bislig, Surigao del Sur. Photo by Adri Constantino of Birding Philippines. | |
Female lithograph by Smit. Yellow eye-ring and crest not drawn in. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Monarchidae |
Genus: | Hypothymis |
Species: | H. coelestis
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Binomial name | |
Hypothymis coelestis Tweeddale, 1877
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Subspecies | |
See text |
The celestial monarch (Hypothymis coelestis) is a species of
Description and taxonomy
Ebird describes the celestial monarch as "A fairly small, rather long-tailed bird of lowland forest. Has turquoise wings and tail, an indigo chest and neck, a pale blue crown and crest, and a white belly. The male is brighter blue and has a longer crest than the female. Similar to Black-naped monarch but has a crest. Also similar to, Short-crested monarch, but is paler blue with a longer crest. Song is a short series of clear piping notes, ”pii-pii-pii.”[3] These birds exhibit sexual dimorphism in which the males have much longer crests and a more intense coloration overall while the females having shorter crests, less intense blue colors and a generally smaller size.[4] Males are known to raise their crests when agitated, usually seen in response hearing other males or sensing a threat.[5]
The diet of the celestial monarch consists of insects.
An alternate name for the celestial monarch is the celestial blue monarch.[6]
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized:[7]
- H. c. coelestis - Tweeddale, 1877: Found on Luzon, Samar, Dinagat, Mindanao, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.
- H. c. rabori - Negros. This subspecies has not been recorded in Negros since 1959 and in Sibuyan in the 1990s and may now be extinct.[8]
Habitat and conservation status
Its natural
IUCN has assessed this bird as vulnerable with estimates the population to be just 1,000 to 2,499 mature individuals remaining with the population continuing to decrease due to habitat loss.
Lowland forests is the most threatened type of forest in the country. This is due to them being deforested for high-value lumber and destroyed through
It has been recently recorded in the protected areas in the
References
- . Retrieved 15 November 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-909612-49-5.
- ^ "Celestial Monarch". Ebird. Archived from the original on 2021-09-06.
- ^ Allen, Desmond (2020). Birds of the Philippines. Barcelona: Lynx and Birdlife Internation Fieldguides. pp. 253–254.
- ^ Allen, Desmond. "Discussion on Celestial Monarchs Crest". Birdwatch Philippines Community.
- ^ "Hypothymis coelestis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
- .
- .
- del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (2006) Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
- Burnie, D. (2001) Animal. Dorling Kindersley, London.
- Mittermeier, R.A., Gil, P.R., Hoffmann, M., Pilgrim, J., Brooks, T., Mittermeier, C.G., Lamoreux, J. and Da Fonseca, G.A.B. (2004) Hotspots Revisited. CEMEX, Mexico City.
- Allen (2020), Birds of the Philippines p. 254
External links
- BirdLife Species Factsheet.
- Species Information at ARKive.
- Celestial Monarch videos on the Internet Bird Collection.