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.
Taxonomy Higher taxonomy 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.
The monarch flycatchers are considered either as a subfamily Monarchinae, together with the fantails as part of the drongo family Dicruridae, or as a family Monarchidae in its own right. More broadly, they belong to the Corvida parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, fairy-wrens and honeyeaters as well as crows.Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): Phylogeny and classification of birds. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
Species Two species are recognized:
Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Grallina cyanoleuca Magpie-lark Australia, Timor, and southern New Guinea Grallina bruijnii Torrent-lark New Guinea
References