Diard's Trogon

When Pierre Médard Diard (1794-1863) and Alfred Duvaucel (1793-1825) left for India, our two French ornithologists did not know they would give their names to two of the most beautiful Asian trogons: Duvaucel's Trogon and Diard's Trogon. Pierre Médard Diard traveled extensively in Asia; he became one of the first Europeans to see Angkor, and while working for the Dutch he sent his collections to Jacob Temminck (1778-1858), who honored him by naming our trogon after him. A large trogon of 34 cm with a distinct dimorphism, the male has a strong pale blue bill with a black tip surrounded by very visible bristles. The forehead is dark brown, almost black, above the bill; chin, throat, and upper chest are black. The crown and nape are brown, the iris is brown-red with an unmistakable cobalt blue orbital ring. The eye is surrounded by a protuberance of pinkish-violet skin that also frames the base of the bill; a thin pink band divides the black chest from the scarlet belly, the scapulars remain brown-striated, coverts are finely barred black and white, flight feathers are black with distinct white margins. The outer rectrices are white, finely barred black - this is a distinguishing characteristic of the species, as Diard's Trogon is the only Harpactes trogon to have these markings on the tail; the central rectrices are brown-striated, barred black at their tips. The female maintains the same cobalt blue bill with a black tip and brown-red iris surrounded by a blue orbital ring. The eye, as in the male, is framed by the same pinkish-violet protuberance. Forehead, crown, nape, throat, and chest are brown, mantle is brown turning to brown-striated on back and rump.The female does not have the pink half-collar on the back; a brown-yellow band separates the chest from the pale red belly, almost pink on the lower belly; the coverts are dark brown and buff-coloured, the primary remiges remain dark brown and the emarginations are not white but light buff-coloured. The outer rectrices are identical, wihte and black vermiculated, the central rectrices adopt the brownish-chestnut colour of the back. The tarses are grey-mauve. The juveniles look like their mother, the belly does not have the red colour of the adults yet, it is light brown spotted with white. Two subspecies, Diard's Trogon ssp diardii described previously and ssp sumatransus, the male has a black head and only a small brown mark on the neck, the skin protrusion around the eye is more violet than pink, the mantle and the back have a lighter brown shade than the nominal species; the female is similar to the female diardii.