Blue-crowned Trogon
Trogon curucui
Small red-bellied trogon. Male has blue head and yellow eye ring. Female has gray head and prominent white eye ring. Found in a variety of forest edge habitats from varzea and floodplain forest to young forest edges around agriculture. Particularly common in swampy areas in the western part of its range; in the eastern part of its range, occupies a wider variety of habitats, including semi-humid forest. Listen for a fast, slightly accelerating series of “pow” notes at a pace of about 5 notes per second.
Identification
The blue-crowned trogon is about 24 cm (9.4 in) long and weighs 39 to 63 g (1.4 to 2.2 oz). The male of the nominate subspecies has a blackish face and throat with an orange ring around the eye. The crown, sides of the neck, and breast are glossy greenish blue, the nape turquoise-green, and the back metallic bronzy green. The upperside of the tail is greenish blue and the underside has black and white bars. The folded wing has fine vermiculation that looks gray at a distance. The breast is separated from the rosy red belly and vent by a white band. The female is gray where the male is green and the belly is pinkish red. Instead of the orange ring around the eye there are white arcs before and after it. The underside of the tail has a different black and white pattern. The male of T. c. peruvianus has a bluish gloss to the bronzy green back, a much reduced white breast band, and narrower white bars on the undertail. The male T. c. behni's back is more intensely bronze than the nominate's, and the breast is greener.<p>The male blue-crowned trogon's song is "a fast, evenly paced repetition of...'kow' [notes], lasting about 4-5 seconds and ending abruptly". Both sexes give a "churrr" call.
Taxonomy
The blue-crowned trogon was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other trogons in the genus Trogon and coined the binomial name Trogon curucui. Linnaeus based his description on the "Curucui" that had been described and illustrated in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his book Historia Naturalis Brasiliae. The name "Curucui" and the specific epithet are derived from Surucui, a word from the extinct Brazilian Tupi language for a small bird. A 2008 molecular phylogenetic study of the genus Trogon found that the blue-crowned trogon was sister to the yellow-bellied Guianan trogon (T. violaceus).<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Trogon curucui
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1766
- Order
- Trogoniformes
- Family
- Trogonidae
- Genus
- Trogon
Range and habitat
The blue-crowned trogon is found throughout the Amazon Basin south of the Amazon River and south and east from there as well. The nominate subspecies is found from Amazonian central Brazil east to the Atlantic Ocean. T. c. peruvianus is found in the Andean foothills of southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, and northwestern Bolivia and from there east into Amazonian Brazil as far as the Tapajós River. T. c. behni is found in eastern and southern Bolivia, southwestern Brazil, much of Paraguay, and northern Argentina.<p>It inhabits a variety of landscapes across its large range. Forest types include várzea, gallery, tall secondary, and dry semi-deciduous. It occupies all levels from the understory to the canopy. It is also found in savanna woodland, dry palm forest, caatinga, and scrublands. In the northern part of its range it seldom occurs above 500 m (1,600 ft) of elevation but reaches as high as 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Argentina and 1,750 m (5,700 ft) in Bolivia.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The blue-crowned trogon's diet includes a wide variety of insects and spiders, and also fruits. It sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks.<p>The blue-crowned trogon's breeding season varies across its range. It starts as early as May in Colombia and spans from October to December in Argentina. It nests in cavities in arboreal termitaria. The clutch size is two or three eggs.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant
Hemitriccus striaticollis
A small, relatively drab flycatcher found locally across its wide range. Primarily yellowish in plumage, brightest on the belly. Whiter throat has strong grayish stripes blending into blurrier streaks on the chest. Generally found in scrubby semi-humid habitats, and often likes viney tangles. Where overlaps with the similar Johannes’s Tody-Tyrant, note the stronger throat markings and generally brighter overall coloration.
Bare-eyed Pigeon
Patagioenas corensis
Large, pale pigeon, unmistakeable if seen well, with large pale blue ocular ring and prominent white wing patches. Occurs in pairs or in small to large groups; mainly seen in trees, tops of cactuses, or in flight. Locally common in desert scrub, dry forests, and mangroves. Voice a very low “cooooo, tuk-tu-kUUuu, tuk-tu-kUUuu,” similar to other pigeons. The only pigeon with white wing patches in arid regions in its range.
Tropical Boubou
Laniarius major
Robust black-and-white bushshrike. There is a pale cinnamon wash on the belly and a white stripe across the top of the wing. Found in dense microhabitats within forest, woodland, thickets, and gardens. Not particularly shy, but spends most of its time in dense cover, usually in pairs. Highly vocal bird with a variety of calls. The song is a synchronized duet of hollow hoots from the male and ratcheting calls from the female. Has a very similar color pattern to other boubous, but its underparts are paler than those of Southern Boubou and darker than those of Swamp Boubou. Has a white stripe on the wing, unlike Zanzibar Boubou.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.