Theblack-faced monarch (Monarcha melanopsis) is apasserine songbird in the familyMonarchidae found along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and also New Guinea (where most birds migrate to during the austral winter; May to August).[3]
The black-faced monarch was originally described asMuscicapa melanopsis byLouis Pierre Vieillot in 1818 from a specimen collected inNew South Wales.[4] The species is now placed in the genusMonarcha that was introduced by the naturalistsNicholas Vigors andThomas Horsfield in 1827.[5][6] The specific name is from theAncient Greek wordsmelas "black" andops "face".[7] English naturalistWilliam Swainson described it in 1823 asMuscipeta carinata, or "keel-billed flycatcher",[8] unaware of Vieillot's earlier description.[7] In his 1848 workThe Birds of Australia, John Gould called itMonarcha carinata "Carinated flycatcher".[9]
Australian amateur ornithologistGregory Mathews described a paler specimen from Cape York as a distinct subspeciespallidus,[10] though this was not recognised subsequently.[2]
"Black-faced monarch" has been designated as the official common name for the species by theInternational Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[6] Alternate names include the "black-faced flycatcher", "carinated flycatcher", "grey-winged monarch" (particularly in New Guinea to distinguish fromblack-winged monarch), "grey-winged monarch flycatcher" and "pearly-winged monarch".[7]
^abAustralian Biological Resources Study (12 February 2010)."SpeciesMonarcha (Monarcha) melanopsis (Vieillot, 1818)".Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved18 October 2019.
^Andersen, M.J.; Hosner, P.A.; Filardi, C.E.; Moyle, R.G. (2015). "Phylogeny of the monarch flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly and novel relationships within a major Australo-Pacific radiation".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.83:118–36.Bibcode:2015MolPE..83..118A.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.11.010.PMID25463752.
