Cuban Trogon

The Cuban Trogon is, like all trogons, a multi-coloured bird, but to find a bird with the colours of the resident country, blue-white-red, is rarer! Priotelus temnurus is the national bird of Cuba and our Hispanic friends have found a more romantic name: Trogon tocororo, in homage to its song. Measuring 25 cm, the dimorphism is less marked, the Cuban Trogon has the forehead, the cap and the neck dark blue with violet reflections, the parotiques are black and a fairly thick black loreal line connects the red eye to a very beautiful also red beak, the upper mandible being clearly coloured in black. A characteristic of the species is the presence of very fine white-grey feathers behind the eye, the throat is white and the feathers of this latter being a little longer, giving a hirsute air to the bird when there is wind. The chest becomes white-gray with a slightly downy aspect, a very fine white band separates the chest from the vermilion belly. The mantle, back and rump are green with deep bronzy reflections, with a certain light the bird appears golden or copper on the back. The scapulars have the same colour, sometimes more marked with bronze shades, the medium coverts dark green have white ends, the large coverts also have this green colour with a thin dark blue edging at its tips, the extremities of these coverts being white. The alula is marked with long white and black stripes while the primary coverts are white with black tips. The primary remiges are marked vertically with long white stripes with black edges, the lower part of these remiges as well as the secondaries being barred with wide black horizontal marks. The wing and tertiaries are black, spotted with some white marks at the base of the latter.The tail is exceptional in its shape and colours: divided into three parts like a pair of scissors cut drapery or the wings of a kite, the lower rectrices are white with a black tip, while the upper rectrices have the colours of a rainbow, violet blue on the outer feathers to become bright green in the center and finally end in golden copper in its center. The Cuban Trogon being quite friendly and always perched, will therefore show its extraordinary tail both from the front and from the back! The female is slightly smaller with a slightly paler belly than her companion. The tarses are dark brown and hardly visible. The juveniles are paler than their parents, the head is green and does not yet have the blue colouration, the coverings are greener and less marked with black and white spots, and the bright red of the parents will only appear later, the tail is less cut and the lower rectrices are pale pink rather than white. Two ssp are recognized: Priotelus temnurus temnurus which is the nominal race, present throughout the island of Cuba, and ssp Priotelus temnurus vescus exclusive to the island of Los Pinos in the southwest of Cuba, of smaller size, with pale red belly and stronger beak.