Chestnut-bellied monarch
species of bird
The chestnut-bellied monarch (Monarcha castaneiventris) or chestnut-bellied monarch-flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands.
Subspecies
Five subspecies are recognised:
Monarcha castaneiventris erythrostictus (Sharpe, 1888) – Buka Island, Bougainville Island, Shortland Islands and Fauro Island (north Solomon Islands)
Monarcha castaneiventris castaneiventris Verreaux, J, 1858 – Choiseul Island, Santa Isabel, Florida Islands, Guadalcanal, Savo Island (north of northwest Guadalcanal) and Malaita (central, southeast Solomon Islands)
Monarcha castaneiventris obscurior Mayr, 1935 – Russell Islands (central south Solomon Islands)
Monarcha castaneiventris megarhynchus Rothschild & Hartert, EJO, 1908 – Makira (southeast Solomon Islands)
Monarcha castaneiventris ugiensis (Ramsay, EP, 1882) – Ugi Island and Olu Malau Islands (or Three Sisters) (north of Makira), and Owaraha (Santa Ana) and Santa Catalina (or Owariki) (east of Makira; southeast Solomon Islands
Monarcha castaneiventris erythrostictus has sometimes been treated as a separate species, the Bougainville monarch
Behaviour and ecology
In 2009, it was reported that a genetic change in some members of this species caused their colouration and songs to be different from other members of the species. As a result, members in one group did not recognize members in the other, so the two groups became reproductively isolated from each other. It was thought that over time, this could eventually lead to the creation of a new species, and that this was an example of biological evolution.
The public source identifies “Chestnut-bellied monarch” as species of bird. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chestnut-bellied, monarch and species.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Chestnut-bellied monarch”, the useful work is to connect “species of bird” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3181363. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1888, 1858, 1935 and 1908.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chestnut-bellied monarch” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.