Masked Trogon

The Masked Trogon is a jewel-toned inhabitant of Andean montane forests, sharing the trogon family's characteristic upright posture, soft plumage, and quiet, sit-and-wait habits. Males have an iridescent green head, throat, and back that can flash coppery or bluish depending on the light, a bold black mask around the eye, and a vivid scarlet-red lower breast and belly separated from the green chest by a thin white band.

Females are more subdued, with grayish-brown replacing the male's iridescent green on the head and back, though they retain the diagnostic red belly and white breast band. Both sexes have a barred black-and-white pattern visible on the underside of the long, squared-off tail.

Like other trogons, this species sits remarkably still on a mid-story perch for long stretches, often overlooked until its soft, repetitive call gives it away.

Key field marks

• Male: iridescent green head, throat, and back; black facial mask; red lower breast and belly
• Thin white band separating the chest from the red belly
• Female: gray-brown head and back replacing the male's green, but same red belly pattern
• Underside of tail finely barred black and white
• Upright, motionless perching posture typical of trogons

Similar species

Collared Trogon is very similar and overlaps at lower elevations, but the Masked Trogon typically occurs higher in the Andes and shows a narrower, cleaner white breast band and slightly different tail barring; voice is often the most reliable way to separate the two where ranges meet.

Habitat

The Masked Trogon favors humid montane forest interior and edge, including cloud forest with abundant epiphytes, typically in the understory to mid-story.

Range

It is distributed along the length of the Andes from Venezuela and Colombia south through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia to northwestern Argentina, generally between about 1,500 and 3,000 meters elevation.

Migration

It is a non-migratory, sedentary resident of its montane forest habitat, though some local elevational shifts may occur seasonally.

Behavior

Masked Trogons perch quietly and upright for extended periods, moving little except to turn the head, and rely on camouflage and stillness rather than flight to avoid detection, revealing themselves mainly by voice or a sudden short sally.

Voice

The song is a soft, mellow, evenly spaced series of hollow notes, often rendered as a repeated 'cow, cow, cow' or 'cu-cu-cu,' typically given from a hidden perch within the forest canopy or mid-story.

Feeding

It feeds by sallying from a perch to snatch fruit or insects, including caterpillars and other invertebrates, from foliage or the air, then returning to the same or a nearby perch.

Nesting and breeding

Like other trogons, it nests in a cavity, often excavating or using a hole in a rotten tree trunk, stump, or arboreal termite nest, where both sexes share incubation and chick-rearing duties.