About the Celestial Monarch
The celestial monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae, and one of the most attractive of all the monarch flycatchers. It is identified as a turquoise blue bird with a long and spectacular cerulean blue crest and large greenish-yellow wattle. It is endemic to the Philippines with its extant range being in Luzon, Samar, Mindanao Tawi-Tawi and Basilan and it being possibly extinct on Negros and Sibuyan Island.Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests up to 750 masl. There is an unverified report of this bird in 2024 in Leyte. It is one of the most sought after birds by birdwatchers in the Philippines and in the world.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in March · a variable species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Short-crested MonarchHypothymis helenaeThe short-crested monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae and one of the most attractive of all the monarch flycatchers.
Black-naped MonarchHypothymis azureaThe adult male black-naped monarch is about 16 cm long, and is mainly pale azure blue apart from a whitish lower belly.
Learn the Celestial Monarch for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.