Myiagra

Myiagra is a genus of passerine birds in the family Monarchidae, the monarch flycatchers, native to Australasia, sometimes referred to as the broad-billed flycatchers or simply broadbills.

Myiagra
Broad-billed flycatcher
Myiagra ruficollis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Monarchidae
Genus: Myiagra
Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Type species
Myiagra rubeculoides[1] = Todus rubecula
Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Species

see text

Synonyms
  • Piezorhynchus
  • Seisura

Taxonomy

The genus Myiagra was introduced in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield.[2] The name combines the Ancient Greek muia meaning "a fly" and agreō meaning "to seize". Myiagros was also the name of a Greek god.[3] The type species was designated by George Robert Gray in 1840 as the leaden flycatcher.[4][5]

Species

The genus contains 22 species include one that is now extinct:[6]

Broad-billed flycatcher in Northern Territory, Australia

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Myiagra:

Description

Members of this genus are separated from other members of the family, particularly the Monarcha monarchs they resemble, by their consistent sexual dimorphism, egg patterning, and the crested heads that often lack facial patterns (a few Monarcha monarchs also lack facial patterns). Flycatchers in the genus Myiagra are small birds ranging in length from 13–20 cm in length. They have broad flattened bills adapted to catching insects. The bill is usually black, the exception being the blue-crested flycatcher of Fiji, whose bill is bright orange. The insides of their mouths are bright orange, noticeable when singing. When perched they have an upright stance. The satiny plumage of all species is sexually dichromatic, to a greater or lesser degree. Overall males tend to have dark blue or black heads, backs, wings and tails and pale bellies and rumps. Some males have red underparts, others have the dark upper plumage all over, and the slightly aberrant shining flycatchers have chestnut wings, backs and tails. The females follow a similar pattern to males but have lighter, more washed out colours. When perched the species in this genus constantly moves their closed tail, in the restless flycatcher the tail is shacked from side to side. The orange lining to their mouths is visible when they sing.

Members of this genus differ from the closely related genus Monarcha in having their crested heads often unpatterned, and the sexes being different in appearance. They have satiny plumage and perch upright, their long tails tending to move frequently. Males typically have dark blue heads and upper parts and paler underparts, and females are mostly similar in appearance to the males but their colour is more washed out and less intense. Their broad beaks are adapted to feed on insects, which they mostly catch on the wing.

Vocalizations

The calls are generally unmusical and are described as guttural, harsh and rasping.

Behaviour and ecology

The genus is adapted to feeding on insects in a manner similar to the Old World flycatchers in the family Muscicapidae. Prey is obtained by sallying from a perch to obtain flying insects or by hover-gleaning, snatching insects from the undersides of leaves while in flight.

Distribution and habitat

The genus is spread across Australasia, with some representatives in Wallacea, New Guinea, Australia, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Micronesia. Members of this genus occur as occasional vagrants in New Zealand and formerly occurred in Tonga and Guam.

References
  1. "Monarchidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. Vigors, Nicholas Aylward; Horsfield, Thomas (1827). "Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (in English and Latin). 15 (1): 170–334 [250–251]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1826.tb00115.x. The title page is dated 1826 but the article was not published until 1827.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 263. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 32.
  5. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 516.
  6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Monarchs". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  7. "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  8. "Hypothymis azurea tytleri - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  9. "Hypothymis puella - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  10. "Symposiachrus vidua - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  11. "Symposiachrus vidua squamulatus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  12. "Monarcha richardsii - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
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