Masked Trogon (Trogon personatus)

Identification & Behavior: ~25.5 cm (10.3 in). Both sexes of the Masked Trogon have white-barred underside of the tail and red bellies with a narrow white breast band. Adult males are iridescent green, have a conspicuous red orbital skin, pale orange bill, and black mask. Females are brown with conspicuous black mask and noticeable white eye ring.  The Masked Trogon is distinguished from the closely related Collared Trogon by a thinly barred underside of the tail, red or reddish orbital skin (gray in collared) and the presence of a black mask in females. There is little to no overlap with other red-bellied Amazonian trogons.

Status: The Masked Trogon is found at elevations ranging from 1200 m – 3300 m. It is the only trogon at high elevations and may have limited overlap with its very similar Amazonian lowland counterpart the Collared Trogon. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Trogón Enmascarado.

Sub-species: Masked Trogon (Trogon personatus) Gould, 1842.
T. p. personatus: subtropical montane zones of E Peru. T. p. assimilis: W Ecuador and NW Peru. T. p. heliothrix: Temperate zone of Peru. T. p. submontanus: Andes of SE Peru (Puno) and Bolivia.

Meaning of Name: Trogon: Gr. Trogo= gobble, nibble, chew. personatus: L. personatus=personata, persona= mask, personalized.

See more of the Family Trogonidae