BIRD SPECIES

Elegant Trogon

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Trogon elegans

The Elegant Trogon formerly known as the Coppery-tailed Trogon is a medium- sized stocky, potbellied bird. It is larger than a robin, with a large, round head, a thick neck, large eyes, and a short, stout bill.

Trogons perch upright with their long square-tipped tails pointing straight down.

Both sexes measure about 11–12 inches long and weighs 60 – 78 grams (average 68 grams). Like other trogons, they have distinctive male and female plumages (sexual dimorphism), with soft feathers.

Both sexes have a white undertail with fine horizontal black barring. The undertail also has large white tips spaced evenly ending in a black terminal band. Both have a yellow bill, orange-red undertail coverts and lower belly, and a white horizontal breast stripe.

Males have coppery green upperparts and rose-red underparts. They have a white band across their breast and a black-and-white barred underside to the tail. Face and throat are black.

Females and immatures are patterned similarly to males, but have grayish-brown upperparts with a white teardrop around the eye.

CALL: Generally, a long drawn out note or a short series of quick harsh notes.

SONG: A hoarse series of downslurred notes sometimes increasing in loudness. The notes are repeated 5 – 10 times with a pause before the next set. The song rate of males is generally much greater than females.

Feeds on insects and fruit, often taken in flight.

Resident of the lower levels of semi-arid open woodlands and forests.

Guatemala in the south as far north as the upper Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico. Found as a vagrant in southeasternmost and western Texas.

Nests 2 – 6 meters high in an unlined shallow cavity, usually selecting an old woodpecker hole. It contains very little material, and eggs simply lie on the floor of the cavity.

The female lays 2 - 4 gaint bluish to dull white eggs. Incubation period is about 17 - 21 days.

SOURCES:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.oiseaux.net