This monarch occurs on Manus, Rambutyo, and Tong in Papua New Guinea. The nominate form on Manus has a black rump and mostly white outer tail feathers. It forages alone or in pairs from the forest undergrowth to the subcanopy, chiefly in primary forest. A single 2019 record from Longan lacks photo or specimen confirmation, so its status there remains uncertain.
The nominate form infelix on Manus has a black rump, and the black throat extends onto the upper breast and sides. Most of its tail is white; the central tail feather is usually black.
BirdLife’s species assessment describes it as mainly a primary-forest bird in closed-canopy forest. Singles and pairs glean, sometimes fluttering, from the undergrowth to the subcanopy. It is rare in secondary, mangrove, and submontane forest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.