Celestial monarch

The celestial monarch (Hypothymis coelestis) is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae, and one of the most attractive of all the monarch flycatchers, with its spectacular blue crest and large yellow eye-ring (neither of which are illustrated in the facing painting). It is endemic to the Philippines.

Celestial monarch
Lithograph (upper bird) by Joseph Smit (1878)
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Monarchidae
Genus:	Hypothymis
Species:	H. coelestis
Binomial name
Hypothymis coelestis Tweeddale, 1877
Subspecies
See text

Taxonomy and systematics

An alternate name for the celestial monarch is the celestial blue monarch.[2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized:[3]

• H. c. coelestis - Tweeddale, 1877: Found on Luzon, Samar, Dinagat, Mindanao, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.
• H. c. rabori - Rand, 1970: Found on Sibuyan and Negros. This subspecies has not been recorded since 1959 and may now be extinct.[4]

Habitat

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This beautiful insectivore is declining rapidly, with recent surveys revealing its presence at only 10 sites. Widespread and continuing reduction of its lowland habitat leaves its population severely fragmented and its status is vulnerable according to the Red Data Book of Threatened Birds of Asia.

References

1. BirdLife International (2012). "Hypothymis coelestis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url
2. "Hypothymis coelestis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
3. "IOC World Bird List 6.3". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.6.3.
4. Brooks,TM; et al. "The conservation status of the birds of Negros, Philippines". Bird Conservation International. 2: 290. doi:10.1017/s0959270900002501.

• 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.

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet.
• Species Information at ARKive.
• Celestial Monarch videos on the Internet Bird Collection.