BIRD SPECIES

Hispaniolan Trogon

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Priotelus roseigaster

The Hispaniolan Trogon is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae.

The male average measurements for wing, tail, culem from base and tarsus are 5.3, 6.1, 0.68, 0.66 inches respectively.

The female averages are 5.4, 6.06, 0.649, 0.645 inches.

They have metallic green upperparts, a gray throat and breast, and a red belly and is separated from the closely related Cuban Trogon by the more typical tail of this species. The underside of the tail is dark, but each rectrix is broadly tipped with white.

Males and females look similar but the females' wing coverts and secondaries lack the narrow white bars.

CALL: Include a shrill “whee” and soft “coos”. Though rather vocal, calling birds are difficult to locate due ventriloquial quality of their vocalizations.

SONG: A tremulous “whut-will", with second note longer and trailing off at end. The first note is sometimes omitted and second note is sometimes given as doublet or triplet.

Known to mainly eat insects, though it also takes small vertebrates such as anoles and fruits, especially those of the West Indian sumac (Brunellia comocladifolia).

Natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded forest.

It is threatened by habitat loss. It is mostly confined to a few remaining protected areas.

Endemic to Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in the Caribbean. In Haiti, it is restricted to the Massif de la Hotte and Chaîne de la Selle, due to extensive habitat loss.

It is still quite common in the Dominican Republic, especially in the relatively undisturbed Sierra de Baoruco, although there has been a moderately rapid population reduction, owing to deforestation.

Like other trogons, their nest is a cavity in a tree, including cavities of the Hispaniolan Woodpecker.

The only known clutches are of 2 are pale green and unmarked eggs.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://ebird.org