Citreoline Trogon

The Citrine Trogon, Trogon citreolus, in Latin, was aptly named by British ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881). It is very similar to the White-tailed Trogon, Baird's Trogon, and the Black-headed Trogon, all of which make up a super-species. It is a typical trogon size-wise at 27 cm, and the male/female dimorphism is less pronounced compared to some other species. When viewed from the front, the male has a light blue beak, the upper jaw being very pale, the whole head is a gray-anthracite color, with faint "ear coverts", a bright yellow iris, and a distinguishing feature from the female of the Lesser Green Trogon, Violaceous Trogon, or a Black-headed Trogon couple. The throat and breast are the same color as the head - gray-anthracite - and a light white line separates the chest from the brilliantly yellow-citron underbelly. The mantle and back are emerald-green, turning to metallic blue on the lower back and rump. The green scapulars contrast against the dark gray coverts, the remiges the same color also possessing white fringes - a characteristic found in many trogons. The feathers underneath are white, the bird also having two small black marks at the base of the first pair of rectrices, just below the belly. A thin, dark line is visible in the center of the white rectrices, and the tail ends with a horizontal black line. On the upper rectrices, the emerald green color is duller than the mantle. Central rectrices have green-bronze highlights, the tail always showing the horizontal black line at the tip. Females viewed from the front show few differences, their beak is much paler, the tip of the upper jaw being black. Both sexes maintain a yellow iris, with the head, nape, and chest all being gray, the light white line separating the latter from the light yellow underbelly is much wider.The mantle, back and shoulders are grey, the coverts are also grey shaded with extremely thin white vermiculations and sometimes barely visible depending on the individual; the darker colored remiges retain the white edgings of the male. It is undeniably the tail that will distinguish her from her companion, the lower rectrices are distinctly black at their base, the last pair showing a fairly clear black diamond at its birth and ending with a horizontal black line. The upper rectrices take on the same grey coloring as the mantle and back. The tarses are blue-grey. The young resemble their mother, the coverts are marked with white spots, the belly is yellowish-white which will yellow with age, the rectrices are much darker, and the dark brown eye has not yet developed the yellow iris. Two ssp are recognized, citreolus which is the nominal species and sumichrasti, larger, 29 cm, whose outermost rectrices show white borders; the difference between the two ssp is very minimal and hardly visible, especially since they hybridize.