Perching

Elegant Trogon

Trogon elegans
Elegant Trogon thumbnail
Length: 13 in. (32 cm )
Only one of these exotic and beautiful tropical species regularly enters into the United States from Mexico during the summer. Both sexes of the Elegant Trogon spend considerable time sitting quietly on an oak, juniper or pine branch, and despite their garish appearance, they can easily be overlooked. Luckily their ringing calls carry long distances, and then they become much more obvious. The females are less colorful and only a bit less noisy but no less interesting. Elegant Trogons eat both fruits and insects that they grab by flying up to the vegetation and snatching off small branches and leaves as they hover for a few seconds. The nest is a tree hole cavity, usually in a sycamore along forested mountain canyon streams. A few individuals winter in Arizona, usually at lower elevations in thick riparian forest.

The four-digit banding code is ELTR.

Male | Oliver Niehuis

Female | Jim Burns


Fir forest

Oak-pine woodland

Riparian / River forest
Bird Sound Type: Croaking
Sex of Bird: Male
Sonogram Large:
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Bird Sound Type: Croaking
Sex of Bird: Male
Sonogram Large:
Sonogram Zoom:

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Bibliographic details:

  • Article: Elegant Trogon
  • Author(s): Dr. Biology
  • Publisher: Arizona State University School of Life Sciences Ask A Biologist
  • Site name: ASU - Ask A Biologist
  • Date published: July 13, 2017
  • Date accessed: March 6, 2024
  • Link: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/elegant-trogon

APA Style

Dr. Biology. (2017, July 13). Elegant Trogon. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved March 6, 2024 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/elegant-trogon

American Psychological Association. For more info, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Chicago Manual of Style

Dr. Biology. "Elegant Trogon". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 13 July, 2017. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/elegant-trogon

MLA 2017 Style

Dr. Biology. "Elegant Trogon". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 13 Jul 2017. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 6 Mar 2024. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/elegant-trogon

Modern Language Association, 7th Ed. For more info, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/
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