The frill-necked monarch was first described in 1895 by English ornithologist and ex-clergyman Charles Walter De Vis,[2] from a specimen collected by Kendall Broadbent that year.

[5] Molecular research in the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed the monarchs belong to a large group of mainly Australasian birds known as the Corvida parvorder comprising many tropical and Australian passerines.

[8] The frill-necked monarch measures around 14 cm (5.5 in) in length, and the neck feathers can become erect into a small frill; the male is predominantly black and white, and can be distinguished from the similar and more common pied monarch by its all-white breast-the latter species having a broad black breast band.

The nest is a shallow cup made of vines and sticks, woven together with spider webs and shredded plant material, and decorated with lichen.

It is generally sited on a hanging loop of vine well away from the trunk or foliage of a sizeable tree about 2–10 metres (6.6–32.8 ft) above the ground.