An overlooked first nest of the Malaita Monarch Symposiachrus malaitae

Vladislav Marcuk, Donovan de Boer
pp. 56-58


Abstract

The Malaita Monarch Symposiachrus malaitae, formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Solomons Monarch S. barbatus, is native only to Malaita Island in the eastern Solomon Islands. The natural history of this globally near-threatened endemic remains virtually unknown; this includes basic aspects of the breeding biology, including the description of the nest and eggs. Here we provide a first description of the nest, based on a specimen in the American Museum of Natural History and compare the nest structure, characteristics and composition with the nest of the Solomons Monarch.


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