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Symposiachrus
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Kolombangara Monarch Symposiachrus browni Scientific name definitions

Peter Clement
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2006

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

15 cm. Small, largely black-and-white monarch. Nominate race has large white patch on cheek; rest of head and face to side of neck, chin to breast, and upperparts bluish-black, median and greater upperwing-coverts white, tips of all except central tail feathers extensively white; underparts below breast white; iris dark; bill pale grey or ash-grey; legs grey to lead-grey. Sexes alike. Juvenile has head and upperparts, wings and tail brown, underparts mostly rufous except for greyer throat, underside of tail with broad white tips. Race nigro­tectus lacks white wing patch, has wing-coverts all bluish-black, white of lower cheek joins that of breast; ganongae is intermediate between previous and nominate, with small black throat patch, white cheek patch meeting that of breast, white tips to median and greater coverts, and has more white on tips of outer four rectrices than nominate; meeki differs has less white in tail than nominate.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Race nigrotectus notably distinctive, lacking the white wingpanel (3) and apparently with more white in tail than other taxa (at least 1); information on voice needed. Taxon ganongae, placed with nigrotectus, is morphologically intermediate, but genetic data (1) show it to be closer to nigrotectus and, furthermore, suggest that these two may together be distinct at species level. Four subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Symposiachrus browni browni Scientific name definitions

Symposiachrus browni browni
S. b. browni

Distribution

Kolombangara, New Georgia, Vangunu and adjacent islands (SW Solomons).
SUBSPECIES

Symposiachrus browni ganongae Scientific name definitions

Symposiachrus browni ganongae
S. b. ganongae

Distribution

Ranongga (SW Solomons).
SUBSPECIES

Symposiachrus browni nigrotectus Scientific name definitions

Symposiachrus browni nigrotectus
S. b. nigrotectus

Distribution

Vella Lavella and Bagga, in SW Solomon Is.
SUBSPECIES

Symposiachrus browni meeki Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Rendova and Tetepare, S of New Georgia (Solomons).

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Primary forest, tall secondary forests and gardens, from sea-level to c. 600 m.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Little known. Food mainly small invertebrates. Usually solitary, in pairs or in mixed species foraging flocks, often in company with M. castaneiventris, Cockerell’s (Rhipidura cockerelli) and Rufous Fantails (R. rufifrons) and Grey-throated White-eye (Zosterops rendovae). Forages at middle to upper levels, occasionally in canopy level in trees. Flutters (displaying white in wings and tail) when foraging, presumably to disturb insects.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Long pulsing whistle, higher-pitched than that of sympatric chestnut monarchs; also a repeated harsh chatter, typical of genus.

Breeding

No information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife NT Near Threatened
Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near-threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Solomon Group EBA. Common or fairly common on New Georgia (nominate race); uncommon on Vella Lavella (nigrotectus), and rare on Ranongga (ganongae). Potentially at risk owing to threat from habitat destruction. On Kolombangara widespread logging is causing a decline, but there are strongholds in forest reserves and unlogged areas on other islands, and distribution is not yet fragmented. Tiny ranges of races ganongae and nigrotectus, where there is little remaining forest and extensive logging, are highly threatened and any significant expansion in areas being logged could exterminate these taxa.
Distribution of the Kolombangara Monarch - Range Map
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Distribution of the Kolombangara Monarch

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Clement, P. (2020). Kolombangara Monarch (Symposiachrus browni), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.kulmon1.01
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