The red-naped trogon is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Region
Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs in the Sundaic lowlands of southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo (including Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kalimantan). It favors primary and mature secondary dipterocarp rainforest, often near streams and in shaded interior forest. The species uses dense midstory and lower canopy, vine tangles, and forest edges but avoids heavily degraded areas and plantations. It may persist in selectively logged forest where sufficient structure remains.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1000 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This striking trogon sits motionless for long periods, often giving away its presence only by a soft, mournful call. It relies on intact lowland rainforest and is highly sensitive to logging and fragmentation. Pairs nest in cavities they excavate in rotten stumps or soft trunks. Its distinctive red nape patch in the male is a key field mark among Southeast Asian trogons.
Borneo Rainforest Lodge - Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo - Malaysia
Arrangement of toes on Trogonidae species, known as heterodactylous
Map of Sunderland and Wallace line
Temperament
solitary and shy
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between perches
Social Behavior
Usually encountered singly or in pairs, often sitting quietly in the midstory. Pairs maintain small territories and communicate with soft, resonant calls. Nests are excavated cavities in rotten stumps or soft-wood trunks, where both sexes participate in incubation and chick rearing.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A soft, mournful series of hoo or huup notes, often given in slow, steady sequences that carry through dense forest. Also utters low bubbling trills and contact calls between mates.
Plumage
Male with rich crimson underparts, darker olive-brown to dusky upperparts, and a distinctive red patch on the nape; tail dark above with white tips and barred pattern below. Female is browner with rufous tones, pinkish to duller reddish underparts, and lacks the bright nape patch. Both sexes show a delicate, finely barred undertail and soft, satiny feather texture typical of trogons.
Diet
Takes a variety of arthropods including beetles, cicadas, stick insects, and caterpillars, captured by sallying from a perch or hover-gleaning from foliage. It also consumes small fruits and figs, especially when insect prey is less available. Prey is typically swallowed whole after being subdued against the perch.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in the shaded midstory and lower canopy of primary or lightly logged forest, often along streams and forest trails. It favors dense cover where it can sally to nearby foliage and return to the same perch.
