Crows, Monarchs & Shrikes

Crows and jays are a cosmopolitan family belonging to the Corvidae that form the core corvid group, see Taxonomy note below. They inhabit the forest, woodland, garden, and urban environments.

Monarch-flycatchers from the Monarchidae family are Old World tropical and temperate region Passeri that inhabit forests, woodlands including cultivated areas, mangroves, and savanna. All featured species photographed in Australia and Singapore.

Shrikes belong to the Laniidae family preferring open country and bushy areas in Africa and most parts of the northern hemisphere. I photographed the featured species in Singapore’s parks.

Crows, Ravens and Jays

Crow, Raven and Jay Notes

All featured species are ‘Red List 2019’ assessed as ‘Least Concern’; Endemic species include the Australian Little Crow together with the little and forest ravens.

I photograph the crow family on an opportunity basis. These are the most intelligent species of birds; some are habitual so easy approached while others can be skittish.

Monarch-flycatchers and Shrikes

Shrike and Monarch-flycatcher Notes

Six species of Monarch-flycatchers feature that I mostly photographed in Australia with two one species in Singapore. The family exhibits a significant size and appearance difference. The Magpie-lark weighs in at 60g to 90g while the Broad-billed Flycatcher is 12g. Two different subspecies of Magpie-lark feature including male and female images of both subspecies.

Both the Amur Paradise-Flycatcher and Blyth’s Paradise-flycatcher ssp indochinensis both occur as a passage migrant in Singapore. There are no records of Blyth’s Paradise-flycatcher ssp affinis since June 1990.

The gallery shows three shrike species from the same genera that include an immature tiger shrike; the others are adults all photographed in Singapore.

Crow Behaviours

Crow Behaviour Notes

The Australian Raven was foraging on the ground, became startled by my presence and squawked. A White-bellied Sea-eagle immature bird being chased by four house crows at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore.

Crows, Monarchs & Shrikes Taxonomy

Corvoidea forms the core corvids placed in suborder Passeri. J Boyd Taxonomy in Flux Checklist places ten Corvoidea families in Corvidae. Only six of these families, presented in two Corvoidea photo albums, are depicted in the family tree.

The first photo album includes:
(a) Ravens and Jays (Corvidae),
(b) Monarch-flycatchers (Monarchidae),
(c) Shrikes (Laniidae).

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