Green-backed Trogon

Trogon viridis - Trogon à queue blanche

Systematics
  • Order 
    :

    Trogoniformes

  • Family
    :

    Trogonidés

  • Genus
    :

    Trogon

  • Species
    :

    viridis

Descriptor

Linnaeus, 1766

Biometrics
  • Size
    : 28 cm
  • Wingspan
    : -
  • Weight
    : 95 à 99 g
Geographic range

Distribution

Identification

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult
Trogon à queue blanche
♀ adult

Green-backed Trogon, scientifically known as Trogon viridis, literally means Green Trogon, which has only green on its back that gives off a certain light! Anglo-Saxons call it Green-backed Trogon but it is more commonly referred to as White-tailed Trogon, as taxonomy is a changing science, the ssp chionorus is sometimes classified as its own species and is also labeled as a White-tailed Trogon! In fact, scientists think that Trogon viridis forms a superspecies with Baird's Trogon, Citrine Trogon and Black-headed Trogon, leaving it to the scientists to sort out the species and subspecies. Trogon viridis has a classic trogon size, being 25-28 cm long, with a very distinct dimorphism, with the male having a pale blue beak surrounded by black bristles, parotids black and surrounding the orbital circle also light blue, iris dark brown to black. Throat is black, as well as the center of the chest, the outer sides of which are a very dark cobalt blue in contrast to the orange-yellow underside. The nape, mantle and back are emerald green with strong violet-blue highlights, depending on the light, the bird will thus appear green, blue or violet! The scapulars take on the emerald green color of the back, with the coverts being very finely and scarcely vermiculated with white horizontal waves not visible from afar, with the black remiges showing white margins. Base of tail is black, forming a point with the tip directed downwards, while the three pairs of rectrices are white, with a black diamond-shaped mark in the middle, and having a black boundary same as the tip of the tail. The female has a gray head, with the beak having a pale blue upper mandible and the lower mandible being light gray, and with the eye being the same as the males: light blue orbital circle; this feature will be a distinguishing element to differentiate the female Trogon viridis from the one of its neighbors - Trogon violaceus, who has white half orbital circles.The chest is light grey, the belly is yellow, the nape, mantle, back and scapulars are grey, the anthracite coverts vermiculated with fine white lines give an elegance to Mrs. Viridis. The remiges are identical to those of Mr., the tail differs, if the base remains black, the first pair of lower rectrices is horizontally striped with black and white to end in two large white spots, the stripes become less wide on the second pair to almost disappear on the third pair, the second and third pairs of rectrices being separated by a large black square, the end of the tail is barred with a black line. Juveniles adopt their mother's costume, young males start to have green-bronze reflections on the back and upper rectrices, the covers are speckled with diffuse points of creamy color, the tail is whiter on the lower rectrices. Two subspecies are recognized, ssp viridis described previously and ssp chionorus also called Panama trogon and sometimes classified as a separate species, with the back and upper rectrices predominantly more blue, even purple and especially the lower rectrices totally white except the end of the tail which is black. The female chionorus differs from her cousin viridis by the base of the tail which is striped black and white while viridis is completely black, the rest of the lower rectrices being white.

Subspecific information monotypic species

Foreign names

  • Trogon à queue blanche,
  • Trogón dorsiverde,
  • surucuá-de-barriga-amarela,
  • Grünmanteltrogon,
  • fehérfarkú trogon,
  • Groenrugtrogon,
  • Trogone dorsoverde,
  • grönryggig trogon,
  • Grønnryggtrogon,
  • trogón bielochvostý,
  • trogon zelenohřbetý,
  • Hvidhalet Trogon,
  • latvustrogoni,
  • trogon de dors verd,
  • trogon białosterny,
  • Белохвостый трогон,
  • ハグロキヌバネドリ,
  • 绿背美洲咬鹃,
  • 白尾美洲咬鵑,

Voice song and cries

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult plum. breeding

The cow-cow-cow-cow-cow or kwo-kwo-kwo-kwo calls, repeated 15-20 times, apparently faster in ssp viridis than in chionorus. Where Green-backed Trogon and Violaceous Trogon meet, the two species will sing, generally slower in viridis.

Habitat

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult

The Green-backed Trogon seems to adapt to different biotopes; in Panama it can be found in the canopy of wet tropical forests, as well as in secondary forests and semi-wooded areas on both sides of the Central American Cordillera.

It is one of the most common trogons in Colombia, particularly in the llanos; the same applies to Venezuela with a preference for wet habitats. In Guyana, it is often found near the coast as well as in the tropical forest. In Brazil, it frequents the Amazon, the terra firma as well as secondary forests, in São Paulo it can be found in wet forests, in old banana plantations, and in unfortunately deforested areas.

Behaviour character trait

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult

No migration observed; sedentary.

Dietfeeding habits

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult

The typical diet of a Green-backed Trogon, consisting of half fruit and half insects such as larvae, caterpillars, arthropods, orthopterans, and stick-insects. On occasion, it will also accept a lizard.

Reproduction nesting

Trogon à queue blanche
♀ adult

From March to July in Panama, February to April in Venezuela, from March to May and July in Trinidad, from January to March in Brazil and the mid-September on the Atlantic side.

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult
The Green-backed Trogon uses an old arboreal termite nest, located between 10 and 20 meters high, dug by both parents, it can also make its nest in a excavation of an old tree. Two to three eggs are incubated by the pair. The incubation period is not known exactly, but it is thought to be very close to that of the Baird's Trogon, that is, 16 to 17 days, the fledglings leaving the nest after 25 days.

Geographic range

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult

In Brazil, in the Amazon, in Mato Grosso and on the Atlantic coast in the province of Bahia, Espirito Santo, Green-backed Trogon (ssp. viridis). At Trinidad, to the east of the Andes, in Colombia, in the south of Peru and in the north of Bolivia. High-crowned Trogon (ssp. chionorus) in Panama on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, west in Colombia and Ecuador.

Threats - protection

Trogon à queue blanche
♂ adult
IUCN conservation status
Extinct
Threatened
Least
concern
Extinc
in the Wild
Near
threatened
Not
evaluated
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC NE

LC is evidently one of the Green-backed Trogons that is best adapted to the different climates of Central and South America, as well as to having a certain proximity to humans. However, be aware, the balance is delicate!

Sources of information

Other sources of interest

QRcode Trogon à queue blancheSpecification sheet created on 01/08/2023 by
Translation by AI Oiseaux.net
© 1996-2024 Oiseaux.net