Mountain Trogon Trogon mexicanus Scientific name definitions

Endemic to highland forests of northern Central America, predominantly in western Mexico, Mountain Trogon is a common resident from 1,200 to 3,500m. Males are metallic green above, with red orbital skin, a black mask and throat, yellow bill, and wing panels with black and white vermiculation, appearing gray. The green upper breast is separated from the bright red belly and undertail coverts by a white breast band. Females are brown overall, with a narrow black tip on a rufous uppertail, a dark maxilla, white breast band, and a red lower belly and ventral area. Both sexes have predominantly dark undertails with significant white markings: males have broad white tips to each pair of stepped rectrices while females show similar but less pronounced white tips and have white barring in the outer webs. Males are distinguished from the sympatric Elegant Trogon by the undertail pattern and lack of copper iridescence in the uppertail. Femlaes lack the obvious post-ocular stripe of female Elegant Trogons and have a narrower black tail tip.

29–31 cm; 69 g. Male nominate race with bill yellow, orbital ring orange-red; face and throat blackish; crown, nape, upperparts, and lower throat to mid-breast green; white breastband, with red below ; vermiculated wingpanel; uppertail green, slightly bluish, with black tip; undertail black with broad white tips. Female has dark upper mandible, broken white eyering; face grey, rest of head to mid-breast and upperparts brown, wingpanel creamy brown; white breastband, pale brown lower breast, red belly to undertail-coverts; uppertail rufous, tipped black, undertail with barred outer webs, mostly black inner webs and white tips. Young birds resemble female, but with buffy spots on coverts, ring of bare yellow skin around eye, buff belly.

Very like T. elegans; differs in green uppertail, undertail pattern, slightly darker wingpanel, no white on outer webs of primaries.

Possibly most closely related to T. curucui, T. rufus, T. elegans (with T. ambiguus), T. collaris and T. personatus. Birds from Honduras sometimes separated as race lutescens, but apparently indistinguishable from nominate. Two subspecies recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Inhabits middle to upper storeys of pine-oak and pine-evergreen (“cypress”) and humid montane forest in Mexican highlands, at 1200–3500 m, rarely lower. In Guatemala, shows marked preference for the oak-and-cypress belt within W mountains, at 800–2900 m. Pine and pine-oak forest above 1200 m (sometimes down to 600 m) in Honduras. Tolerates second growth.

Song a series of 3–15 double whistles, “kyow-kyow kyow-kyow kyow-kyow”, sometimes followed by softer accelerating run of 10–14 notes, “hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-huhuhuhu”; calls include clucks and cackling chatters.