Black-throated Trogon

The Black-throated Trogon is a relatively small, understated trogon of humid lowland and foothill forest, more often heard than seen as it perches motionless in shaded mid-story vegetation. Males have a glossy green crown, back, and chest bordered by a black face and throat, with a bright yellow belly and a finely barred blackish-and-white undertail; a blue ring of bare skin encircles the eye. Females are duller olive-brown above with a buffy eye-ring, retaining the yellow belly.

Key field marks

• Male: green crown/back, black face and throat, yellow belly, blue eye-ring, finely barred undertail.
• Female: brown/olive above (replacing male's green and black), yellow belly, buffy eye-ring.
• Quiet, still perching posture in shaded mid-story.

Similar species

Blue-crowned/Gartered Trogon complex also shows a yellow belly but has a green (not black) throat and a blue crown patch; Black-throated Trogon's solid black face/throat is the key distinguishing feature. Collared and Slaty-tailed Trogons both have red, not yellow, bellies.

This species occupies the shaded understory and mid-story of humid lowland and foothill evergreen forest, generally below about 1,200-1,500 m, from Honduras south through Central America and across much of the Amazon basin to Bolivia and Brazil. It is a non-migratory forest-interior resident that rarely ventures into open habitat.

Voice

A soft, mellow, slightly descending series of notes, often paired or in short phrases, given from a still perch within the forest shade.

Feeding

Black-throated Trogons sit motionless for extended periods before sallying to pluck fruit or snatch large insects from nearby foliage, a foraging style shared across the trogon family.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs excavate a nest cavity in soft, rotten wood — sometimes in an active arboreal termite nest — and both parents share incubation and feeding of the chicks.