Pied Monarch

1. Broad black breast band across white underparts

2. Puffy white collar at the rear of the head, often raised during displays

3. Treecreeper-like foraging behaviour, spiraling up trunks and branches

Pied Monarchs breed from October to January, prior to the peak of the summer rains. Both sexes build a small, loosely woven hanging basket nest from fine twigs and spider webs, often decorated with lichen and suspended between creepers or branches 3–1 meters above ground. The species is mostly non-migratory but may form small groups or family parties outside the breeding season. Their foraging technique is particularly interesting, they spiral up tree trunks and large branches, probing among bark and lichens for insects-especially beetles and moths-much like treecreepers. They also join mixed-species foraging flocks with other monarch flycatchers, fantails, whistlers, and shrike-thrushes.

Pied Monarchs are found in the rainforests of northern Queensland, including the Atherton Tablelands and coastal ranges from Cooktown to Ingham. They inhabit primary rainforest, forest edges, palm-vine scrub, gallery forests, and along rivers, ranging from sea level up to 9 meters. During the winter, some individuals disperse into adjacent *Eucalyptus* woodlands on the Atherton Tableland. They are most often seen in the middle strata of the forest, rarely feeding near the ground.