The white-tailed trogon is a near passerine bird in the trogon family. It is found in tropical humid forests of the Chocó, ranging from Panama, through western Colombia, to western Ecuador. It was formerly considered a subspecies of T. viridis, which is widespread in South America east of the Andes, but under the English name white-tailed trogon.
Region
Chocó–Darién (western Panama to western Ecuador)
Typical Environment
This species inhabits humid evergreen forests, riverine forest, and tall secondary growth, favoring the mid to upper canopy. It is most frequent in intact lowland rainforest but also occurs along forest edges and in older secondary woodland. Birds often remain within shaded interior tracts, perching quietly on horizontal branches. It is generally sedentary within its range, tracking fruiting trees locally rather than undertaking long movements.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The white-tailed trogon is a near-passerine of humid lowland forests in the Chocó region from eastern Panama through western Colombia to western Ecuador. It was long treated as part of the Green-backed Trogon complex (Trogon viridis) but is now widely recognized as a separate species. Males show a striking white undertail that contrasts with a gleaming green head and breast and a bright yellow belly. Like other trogons, it often sits motionless for long periods before sallying to pluck fruit or seize insects.
Male, Rio Silanche Reserve, NW Ecuador
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with direct, short-distance flights
Social Behavior
Usually encountered singly or in pairs, perching quietly for long periods in the mid-canopy. Breeding pairs nest in cavities, often in decaying stumps or arboreal termitaria that they excavate or enlarge. Courtship includes soft calls and short display flights between perches.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
The voice is a series of deep, resonant hoots or cow-like notes, delivered in evenly spaced sequences. Calls carry well through dense forest and may accelerate slightly as the series progresses.
Plumage
Male with glossy green head and breast, sharply demarcated from a bright yellow belly; upperparts green with darker tail; underside of tail largely white with narrow black barring near the tips. Female is gray-headed and gray-backed with a duller yellow belly; undertail also shows prominent white with dark barring. Both sexes have a pale bluish orbital ring and a relatively short, broad bill.
Diet
It consumes a mix of fruits and large arthropods such as beetles, katydids, and caterpillars, occasionally taking small vertebrates. Foraging is typically by sally-gleaning: the bird launches from a perch to pluck fruit or seize prey and returns to the same or a nearby perch. Seasonal and local availability of fruiting trees influences feeding locations.
Preferred Environment
Feeds mainly in the mid to upper canopy of primary and tall secondary rainforest, especially along forest edges, treefall gaps, and near fruiting trees. Also forages along river corridors where canopy trees overhang the water.
