The red-headed trogon is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae.
Region
South and Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from the Himalayan foothills of northern India, Nepal, and Bhutan through northeastern India and Myanmar into southern China (including Yunnan) and mainland Southeast Asia to Vietnam and Thailand. It inhabits evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, mature secondary growth, and shady ravines with dense understory. Birds favor the midstory and lower canopy, often along forest edges and near streams. They are typically local and patchy where good forest remains, with some altitudinal movements following seasons.
Altitude Range
300–2500 m
Climate Zone
Subtropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The red-headed trogon is a quiet, forest-dwelling member of the family Trogonidae, often detected by its mellow, mournful calls rather than by sight. It spends much of its time perched motionless in the midstory, sallying to snatch insects and occasionally fruit. Both sexes excavate a nest cavity in rotting wood or a termite nest, a hallmark behavior of many trogons.
Close-up of a male's head. note the blue eye-ring and blue bill
A male red-headed trogon in Garbganga, Assam, India
A red-headed trogon in Neora Valley National Park
A reproductive pair of red-headed trogons
Temperament
solitary and unobtrusive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, perching quietly for long periods in the midstory. Breeding pairs excavate a nest cavity in decayed trunks, stumps, or termite mounds, with both sexes participating. Clutch size is small, and both adults share incubation and chick provisioning.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives a series of mellow, mournful hoots or koo notes, often accelerating slightly. Calls carry through dense forest but are soft in tone, aiding detection of this otherwise inconspicuous bird.
Plumage
Male with rich red head and breast, brownish-olive back, and bright crimson underparts; finely vermiculated black-and-white wing coverts and a gray upper tail with white-tipped undertail. Female is duller with brownish head and breast and rufous to cinnamon underparts, with similar fine wing barring. Both sexes show soft, loose-textured plumage typical of trogons.
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects such as caterpillars, beetles, mantises, and orthopterans, taken by sallying from a perch or gleaning from foliage. Also consumes small amounts of fruit, especially when insect prey is less abundant. Prey is typically subdued and swallowed whole.
Preferred Environment
Forages in shaded midstory and along forested stream corridors, edges of evergreen forest, and dense secondary growth. Often hunts from a favored perch, making short aerial sallies or hops to nearby leaves and branches.
