The Spectacled Monarch (Symposiachrus trivirgatus) is a small and colourful songbird with an international range — from Eastern Australia, through New Guinea into the Islands of Indonesia and Timor.
There are multiple subspecies. In eastern Australia the northern subspecies is albiventris, with melanorrhous further south and gouldii at the southern limit of its range, Port Stephens in New South Wales.
According to the Australian Bird Guide maps, at Paluma we would expect to find sub-species melanorrhous. The differences between subspecies are somewhat subtle so in Paluma we may be seeing an overlap with the far northern sub-species albiventris. Albiventris is described as having a rufous upper breast sharply defined from more extensive white underparts than melanorrhous and gouldii.
Males and females are similarly feathered — blue-grey above, with a black face mask that extends across both eyes, rufous (red-orange) breast, white underparts and a black tail with white outer tips. Immature birds lack the black face and have a grey throat.
As well as subtle changes in plumage the sub-species are distinguished by a variety of songs and calls from rising mellow whistles in the Lesser Sundas to raspier whistled notes in Australia. eBird says that calls vary, but are generally “harsh and unpleasant-sounding buzzes and rattles”.
The eastern Australian sub-species are found in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or (as we have here at Paluma) the moist montane forests of the Wet Tropics.
The Spectacled Monarch is not an easy bird to photograph, stopping only for a few seconds to perch as it makes its way, mostly obscured, amongst dense foliage while foraging for insects below the canopy and on tree trunks or vines.
Google search comes up with several spellings for the scientific name: Birds in Backyards says Symposiarchus trivirgatus, most other sites use Symposiachrus trivirgatus
Photos by Peter Cooke and text gleaned and adapted from Wikipedia, eBird and Birds in Backyards. Location: jungle margin behind #56.