Bird Guide

Baird's Trogon vs White-tailed Trogon

Baird's Trogon (Trogon bairdii)

Baird's Trogon

Trogon bairdii

Medium94 gForest

Baird's trogon is 25 to 28 cm (9.8 to 11.0 in) long and weighs about 95 g (3.4 oz). The male's head and most of the breast are bluish black and the rest of the underparts a rich bright red. It has a stout light blue bill and ring around the eye. The upperparts are metallic blue-green and the wings mostly blackish with some white on the primary feathers. The upper side of the tail feathers are greenish- to violet-blue with black tips. Their underside is white with black tips. The female replaces the blue and green with dark slate above and a paler gray in the throat and breast. Voice: The song of Baird's trogon is a "series of barking notes, first level, then accelerating and falling abruptly, sometimes terminating with several widely spaced notes on lower pitch". It also makes a "sharp cackle" when bothered.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Charlie Jackson · CC BY 2.0
White-tailed Trogon (Trogon chionurus)

White-tailed Trogon

Trogon chionurus

Medium90 gForest

This relatively large trogon is 28 to 30 centimetres (11 to 12 in) long. As most trogons, it is strongly sexually dimorphic. In the male the head and upper breast are dark blue (appears blackish in poor light), and the back is green, becoming bluer on the rump. The lower underparts are orange-yellow. The wings are black, vermiculated with white. The undertail is almost entirely white with only a very narrow black base to each feather. The complete eye-ring is pale bluish.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the White-tailed Trogon
Recorded by Manuela Zapata · Song · Reserva Natural Cañon del Río Claro “ El Refugio”, Antioquia, Colombia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Baird's Trogon and White-tailed Trogon.