09 May 2005 - White-eared Monarch Breeding Records

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09 May 2005 - White-eared Monarch Breeding Records
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John Young has tracked down the very elusive canopy-dweller White-Eared Monarch and managed to photograph a nest and eggs over 30 meters from the ground.
For more than a century this bird has only been seen occasionally and always at a distance. John now has pictures that will end the long-running misconceptions about the appearance of the eggs. 

The White-eared Monarch is a small to medium sized flycatcher around 13-14cm in length. It is very distinctively marked in black and white, somewhat resembling a miniature Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), except this bird spends most of its life in the canopy and only ventures to the ground to drink in sheltered pools. It is chiefly a rainforest species, sometimes inhabiting vine forests, occurring as far south as just north of Sydney in New South Wales. From here, it inhabits coastal rainforest, and less commonly upland rainforest, right through to Cape York Peninsula. The White-eared Monarch cannot be confused with any other flycatcher, except perhaps the Frilled Monarch (Arses
telescophthalmus) or the Pied Monarch (A. kaupi). The latter two species of flycatchers occur in the tropics. The Pied Monarch (A. kaupi) occurs from Townsville to Cooktown, and the Frilled Monarch (A. telescophthalmus) occurs from the McIlwraith Range to Cape York. These two flycatchers feed in very different ways compared to the White-eared Monarch, simply because most of their time is spent below the canopy clambering up and down tree trunks in search of insects. Both species build unique nests on the ends of hanging vines that resemble small hammocks composed of fine dried tendrils.

In contrast, the White Eared Monarch spends at least 90% of its time flitting around the canopy after insects and this is where it breeds. Usually in the early hours before sunrise and just after, this monarch bathes in dew or moisture left on the leaves from condensation the night before. In comparison to most other flycatchers, this bird is quite active during the heat of the day, from 10am to 3pm, especially when nest building. This bird has been little known from when it was discovered in the 1850's and it was to take another 70 years until the breeding events of this canopy dweller were to be discovered in 1923. There are records of nests being found on rare occasions, mostly in the canopy and in the southern parts of their range, though this bird has been recorded as nesting below the canopy, similar to the Spectacled Monarch (Monarcha trivirgatus). The nests and eggs in the southern localities have generally been described as being similar to the Spectacled Monarch (M. trivirgatus), which I believe is incorrect. Up until now, I believe most descriptions of the nest and eggs (most certainly the eggs), are indeed incorrect. The following notes and descriptions of breeding events discovered by the Author, including a recent photograph of the nest and eggs taken at 35 metres in northeastern Queensland, are entered here for future reference. During the past 30 years, the Author has only found and examined 4 White-eared Monarchs nests, all of which were found in the crowns of living trees. This is somewhat similar to where the Crested Shrike-tit (Falcunculus frontatus) nests, which is within the last few centimetres of the crown of a living tree. The following gives 4 accounts of nests that have been discovered in north Queensland from Ingham to Iron Range on Cape York Peninsula.