PIED MONARCH
Photo: C & D Frith
Wet Tropics Rainforest Life
ENDEMIC Tropical
North QLD
PIED MONARCH
Arses kaupi 14 cm
·
It occurs in all rainforests but is least common at
higher altitudes.
·
It obtains food from the bark of trees, where it
spirals around trunks and large
branches like a treecreeper.
·
This is an endemic to the Wet Tropics. It is
a member of a group of birds called
the flycatchers, which also includes Bower’s Shrike-thrush, another
bird endemic
to the region.
·
The Pied Monarch is closely related to, and very similar to, the Frilled Monarch
of
Cape York Peninsula.
·
It is small (14-15cm), blue-black and white with a blue eye ring. The difference
between the male and female of the Pied Monarch (and also the Frilled Monarch)
is in the
chin. The males have black chins and the females have white chins.
·
They build woven cup-shaped basket nests of small dry roots, twigs and vine
tendrils. Spider webs are used to weave the nest, and pieces of lichen are used
to decorate the nest. These nests are hung
between hanging vines.
·
Breeding season is between September and January in the wet summer season.
Two
eggs are usually laid.
·
These active birds forage for food (mainly insects) on tree trunks, crevices and
branches by clinging to the bark and flapping their wings to move them up and
down,
fanning its tail. This movement resembles that of a Treecreeper.
·
They are sometimes seen singly, but more commonly in pairs.
·
It is common to see this bird whilst searching for another. ·
Clearing of the rainforest is greatly reducing the range in which it can live.
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