Grallina | |
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Male magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Monarchidae |
Genus: |
Grallina Vieillot, 1816 |
Type species | |
Grallina melanoleuca
[1] Vieillot, 1816
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Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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Grallina is a genus of passerine bird native to Australia and New Guinea. It is a member of a group of birds termed monarch flycatchers.
Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder family Corcoracidae, the magpie-lark and torrent lark have been reclassified in the family Monarchidae (the monarch flycatchers). The two make up a lineage that split off early from other monarchs and has no close relatives within the family. [2]
The monarch flycatchers are considered either as a subfamily Monarchinae, together with the fantails as part of the drongo family Dicruridae, [3] or as a family Monarchidae in its own right. [4] More broadly, they belong to the Corvida parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, fairy-wrens and honeyeaters as well as crows. [5]
Two species are recognized: [6]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
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Grallina cyanoleuca | Magpie-lark | Australia, Timor, and southern New Guinea | |
Grallina bruijnii | Torrent-lark | New Guinea |