Cerulean flycatcher

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Cerulean flycatcher
Cerulean paradise-flycatcher.jpg
Cerulean flycatcher by Richard Bowdler Sharpe, 1888

Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Rhipiduridae
Subfamily: Lamproliinae
Genus: Eutrichomyias
Meise, 1939
Species:
E. rowleyi
Binomial name
Eutrichomyias rowleyi
(Meyer, 1878)
Synonyms
  • Zeocephus rowleyi

The cerulean flycatcher (Eutrichomyias rowleyi) is a medium-sized (up to 18 cm long), blue passerine with bright cerulean blue plumage, a bare white orbital ring, dark brown iris, bluish black bill and pale blue-grey below. The young has a shorter tail and grey underparts. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Eutrichomyias. Although it resembles a monarch flycatcher, it is actually related to the fantails.

Taxonomy and systematics[]

The scientific name commemorates the British explorer and ornithologist George Dawson Rowley. The cerulean flycatcher was originally described in the genus Zeocephus, and was known as the cerulean paradise-flycatcher. Alternate names include Cerulean flycatcher, Rowley's flycatcher and Rowley's paradise-flycatcher. Although initially classified in Monarchidae, a 2017 study involving sequencing of DNA from the type specimen found that it was a member of the fantail family Rhipiduridae, being classified in the basal subfamily Lamproliinae (sometimes considered a distinct family) along with Chaetorhynchus and Lamprolia.[2] This finding was accepted by the IOC, who renamed the species from "cerulean paradise-flycatcher" to just "cerulean flycatcher".[3]

Distribution and habitat[]

The cerulean flycatcher is endemic to the island of Sangihe, off North Sulawesi in Indonesia. Previously known only from a single specimen collected in 1873, this rare bird was rediscovered in October 1998 around forested valleys of Mount Sahendaruman in southern Sangihe.

Behaviour and ecology[]

Food and feeding[]

Its diet consists mainly of insects and other small invertebrates.

Threats[]

Due to ongoing habitat loss, a small population size, and limited range, the cerulean flycatcher is evaluated as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References[]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2013). "Eutrichomyias rowleyi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ^ Jønsson, Knud Andreas; Blom, Mozes P.K.; Päckert, Martin; Ericson, Per G.P.; Irestedt, Martin (March 2018). "Relicts of the lost arc: High-throughput sequencing of the Eutrichomyias rowleyi (Aves: Passeriformes) holotype uncovers an ancient biogeographic link between the Philippines and Fiji". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 120: 28–32. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.11.021. PMID 29199105.
  3. ^ "Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-07-14.

External links[]

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