Mountain trogon

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Mountain Trogon (Trogon mexicanus) (8079378444).jpg | image_caption = Male | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Trogon mexicanus'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T22682791A130083356 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22682791A130083356.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Trogon | species = mexicanus | authority = Swainson, 1827 | synonyms = ''Trogon glocitans'' Lichtenstein, 1830<ref name = "Ridgway"/> ''Trogon morgani'' Gould, 1838<ref name = "Ridgway"/> ''Trogonurus mexicanus'' Bonaparte, 1854<ref name = "Ridgway"/> | range_map = Trogon mexicanus map.svg }}

The '''mountain trogon''' ('''''Trogon mexicanus'''''), also known as the '''Mexican trogon''', is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. First described by William Swainson in 1827, it is resident in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico and has occurred in El Salvador as a vagrant. Like all trogons, the mountain trogon is sexually dimorphic. The male is metallic green on the crown, nape, upperparts and chest, the latter separated from its bright red belly and vent by a narrow band of white. The female is warm brown on the head, upperparts and chest, separated from its paler brown lower chest and red belly and vent by a narrow white band.

Its natural habitat is subtropical and tropical moist montane forests. It prefers pine-evergreen and pine-oak woodland between {{convert|3000|and|10000|ft|m|abbr=on|0}} in elevation. Unlike some rarer trogons, this species shows some adaptability to human land use and has utilized coffee plantations with suitable shade trees like oaks.<ref name="Herrera"/>

==Taxonomy== When he first described the mountain trogon in 1827 from a specimen collected in Temascáltepec, Mexico, William Swainson gave the species its current scientific name.<ref name = "HBW-Alive"/> Most ornithologists have agreed with this assignment, though Charles Lucien Bonaparte assigned it to the genus ''Trogonurus'', and several other ornithologists described it again later under other names.<ref name = "Ridgway"/> It has three subspecies:<ref name = "ITIS"/> *''T. m. clarus'' was described by Ludlow Griscom in 1932.<ref name = "ITIS"/> *''T. m. lutescens'' was also described by Griscom in 1932.<ref name = "ITIS"/> *''T. m. mexicanus'' was described by Swainson in 1827.<ref name = "ITIS"/>

DNA studies have shown that the mountain trogon is part of the "Elegant" sub-clade of the genus ''Trogon''—along with the elegant trogon, the collared trogon, the black-throated trogons (Amazonian, Atlantic, choco, and northern) and the masked trogon—but have not revealed which species are its closest relatives.<ref name = "Monteros"/>

The genus name ''Trogon'' is a Greek word meaning "grawing" or "nibbling".<ref name = "Jobling391"/> This may be a reference to the way trogons gnaw into rotting trees to make their nest holes.<ref name = "Carnaby"/> The species name ''mexicanus'' means "Mexico", a reference to where the first specimen was collected.<ref name = "Jobling252"/>

==Description== The mountain trogon measures {{nowrap|11.5–12.5 in}} {{nowrap|(29–31.5 cm)}} in length.<ref name = "Howell"/> It weighs between {{convert|61.5|and|85|g|oz|abbr=on|1}}, with a mean of {{convert|71|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name = "CRC"/> Like all trogons, it is sexually dimorphic.<ref name = "Harris"/> The adult male is green on the crown, nape and upperparts; the upper side of its tail is bluish-green, with black tips to the rectrices. His face and throat are blackish, with an orange-red orbital ring and a bright yellow bill. He is green on the chest and red on the belly and undertail; the two colors are separated by a narrow band of white. The underside of his tail is black with three large white blocks created by white tips to the outer rectrices. His primaries are blackish, with black and white vermiculations on the wing coverts.<ref name = "Howell"/> The female is warm brown on her head and upperparts; her tail is rufous-brown on the upperside, with black tips to the rectrices. She has a small white crescent in front of her eye and a bold white crescent behind her eye. Her bill is dark above. Her chest is warm brown, separated from her brown lower chest and red belly by a narrow band of white. Her undertail is black and white; the outer webs of the rectrices are barred black and white, while the inner webs are black, broadly tipped with white. Her primaries are blackish with white outer webs, which form white streaks along her folded wing. Her wing coverts are pale brown, with dusky vermiculations.<ref name = "Howell"/>

thumb|left|The female is less colorful than the male.

===Similar species=== There are several species with which the mountain trogon might be confused; they differ primarily in the color and patterning on their tails. The male elegant trogon's tail is copper-colored (rather than green) above and finely vermiculated black and white (rather than all black) below, while the female has a white patch behind and below her eye. The male collared trogon is golden-green on the back and uppertail, and its undertail is black with narrow white barring. The female collared trogon's tail is grayish below with a narrow dark bar at the tip of each rectrice.<ref name = "Edwards"/>

==Range and habitat== The mountain trogon is found in the highlands of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.<ref name = "Peterson"/> Although it was formerly recorded as a resident in El Salvador, the area where it was found was ceded to Honduras in 1992 and it now occurs in El Salvador only as a vagrant.<ref name = "Herrera"/> It also occurs in Nicaragua, though the origin of these birds is uncertain.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> The ornithological collection at Vassar College contains a mountain trogon that was purportedly shot in Texas,<ref name = "Orton"/> but the species is not on the list of accepted North American birds.<ref name = "ABA"/>

Found at elevations ranging from {{convert|3000|to|10000|ft|m|abbr=on}},<ref name = "Skutch"/> the mountain trogon prefers pine or pine-oak woodlands and cloud forest.<ref name = "Peterson"/>

==Behavior== The mountain trogon may associate with mixed species flocks.<ref name = "Howell"/> It joins such flocks sporadically and in small numbers, but is an active member of the flock, moving in the upper and middle levels of the forest, when it is present.<ref name = "Short"/>

===Food and feeding=== The mountain trogon eats insects and small fruits, which it catches or plucks while on the wing.<ref name = "Skutch"/>

===Breeding=== Like all trogons, the mountain trogon is a cavity nester.<ref name = "Skutch"/> It is both a primary and secondary cavity nester, meaning that it both excavates its own nest cavities, and uses those cavities already excavated by another species.<ref name = "Brightsmith"/><ref name = "Webster"/> When it excavates its own nest, it uses its beak to gnaw a hole in rotting wood, either in a decaying stump or branch.<ref name = "Skutch"/> The cavity is typically less than {{convert|4|ft|m|abbr=on}} off the ground, but occasionally as high as {{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name = "Skutch"/> When it uses a cavity made by another species, it typically uses those made by large woodpeckers.<ref name = "Webster"/> The female lays two white eggs, which both parents incubate, though the female does far longer stints than the male. The eggs hatch after {{nowrap|19 days}}.<ref name = "Skutch"/>

===Voice=== The mountain trogon has several vocalizations. If alarmed, it gives a sharp, low-pitched call variously transcribed as "''cut''" or "''tuck''". In flight, it gives a quick, low-pitched call transcribed as "''cut-a-cut-cut''". When perched, it makes a slow, repetitive "''cowh''" or a "''tucka-tucka-tucka''".<ref name = "Peterson"/> Young mountain trogons make quiet hissing calls when food begging, and when approached by potential predators.<ref name = "Gonzalez"/>

==Conservation and threats== Because of its large range and large population, estimated to number between 50,000 and {{nowrap|499,999 individuals}}, the mountain trogon is rated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Its population appears to be stable.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" />

==References== {{Reflist|30em | refs = <ref name = "ABA">{{cite web | url = http://listing.aba.org/checklist/abachecklist_v7.7.pdf | title = ABA Checklist Update | access-date = 19 January 2015 | publisher = American Birding Association }}</ref>

<ref name = "Brightsmith">{{cite journal | title = Competition, Predation and Nest Niche Shifts among Tropical Cavity Nesters: Phylogeny and Natural History Evolution of Parrots (Psittaciformes) and Trogons (Trogoniformes) | first = Donald J. | last = Brightsmith | journal = Journal of Avian Biology | volume = 36 | issue = 1 | date = January 2005 | pages = 64–73 | jstor = 3677542 | doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2005.03310.x}}</ref>

<ref name = "Carnaby">{{cite book | title = Beat About the Bush: Birds | first = Trevor | last = Carnaby | year = 2008 | publisher = Jacana Media| location = Johannesburg, South Africa | page = 74 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hh11gLdZyDgC&pg=PA74 | isbn = 978-1-77009-241-9}}</ref>

<ref name = "CRC">{{cite book | title = CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses | edition = 2nd | first = John B. | last = Dunning Jr. | year = 2008 | location = Boca Raton, FL, US | publisher = CRC Press | page = 209 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TcnOTPILlcEC&pg=PA209 | isbn=978-1-4200-6445-2}}</ref>

<ref name = "Edwards">{{cite book | title = A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas: Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador | first = Ernest Preston | last = Edwards | year = 1998 | location = Austin, TX, US | publisher = University of Texas Press | pages = [https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetobird00edwa/page/82 82]–83 | isbn = 978-0-292-72092-3 | url = https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetobird00edwa | url-access = registration }}</ref>

<ref name = "Gonzalez">{{cite journal | first1 = José I. | last1 = González-Rojas | first2 = Javier | last2 = Cruz-Nieto | first3 = Irene | last3 = Ruvalcaba-Ortega | first4 = Miguel A. | last4 = Cruz-Nieto | journal = Journal of Field Ornithology | title = Breeding Biology of Eared Quetzals in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico | volume = 79 | issue = 1 | date = March 2008 | pages = 20–23 | jstor = 27715232 | doi=10.1111/j.1557-9263.2008.00141.x| doi-access = free }}</ref>

<ref name = "Harris">{{cite book | title = National Geographic Complete Birds of the World | editor-first = Tim | editor-last = Harris | page = 159 | publisher = National Geographic Society | location = Washington, DC, US | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-4262-0403-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0TIiIdLp9xkC&pg=PA159}}</ref>

<ref name = "HBW-Alive">{{cite book | chapter-url = http://www.hbw.com/species/mountain-trogon-trogon-mexicanus | title = Mountain Trogon ''Trogon mexicanus'' | chapter = Mountain Trogon (Trogon mexicanus) | date = 2020 | access-date = 20 January 2015 | publisher = Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | doi = 10.2173/bow.moutro1.01 | last1 = Collar | first1 = Nigel | editor-first1 = Josep | editor-first2 = Andrew | editor-first3 = Jordi | editor-first4 = David | editor-first5 = Eduardo | editor-last1 = Del Hoyo | editor-last2 = Elliott | editor-last3 = Sargatal | editor-last4 = Christie | editor-last5 = De Juana }}</ref>

<ref name = "Herrera">{{cite journal | journal = Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología | volume = 16 | issue = 2 | pages = 1–19 | url = http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/01-Herrera.etal.RecordsSalvador.pdf | language = Spanish | year = 2006 | title = Nuevos registros para la avifauna de El Salvador | last1 = Herrera | first1 = Néstor | last2 = Rivera | first2 = Roberto | last3 = Ibarra Portillo | first3 = Ricardo | last4 = Rodríguez | first4 = Wilfredo}}</ref>

<ref name = "Howell">{{cite book | title = A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America | first1 = Steve N. G. | last1 = Howell | first2 = Sophie | last2 = Webb | location = Oxford, UK | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-19-854012-0 | page = [https://archive.org/details/guidetobirdsofme0000howe/page/433 433] | url = https://archive.org/details/guidetobirdsofme0000howe/page/433 }}</ref>

<ref name = "ITIS">{{cite web | url = https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554499 | title = ITIS Report: ''Trogon mexicanus'' | access-date = 17 January 2014 | publisher = Integrated Taxonomic Information System }}</ref>

<ref name = "Jobling252">Jobling (2010), p. 252.</ref> <ref name = "Jobling391">Jobling (2010), p. 391.</ref>

<ref name = "Monteros">{{cite journal | title = Phylogenetic Relationship Among the Trogons | journal = The Auk | volume = 115 | issue = 4 | date = October 1998 | pages = 937–954 | first = Alejandro | last = Espinosa de los Monteros | doi = 10.2307/4089512 | jstor = 4089512 | url = https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v115n04/p0937-p0954.pdf }}</ref>

<ref name = "Orton">{{cite journal | journal = The American Naturalist | title = Notes on Some Birds in the Museum of Vassar College | first = James | last = Orton | volume = 4 | issue = 12 | pages = 711–717 | date = February 1871 | jstor = 2447029 | doi=10.1086/270681| s2cid = 83503957 }}</ref>

<ref name = "Peterson">{{cite book | last1 = Peterson | first1 = Roger Tory | last2 = Chalif | first2 = Edward L. | year = 1973 | title = A Field Guide to Mexican Birds: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | location = New York, NY, US | isbn = 978-0-395-97514-5 | page = 110 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LLU8tgLU1uMC&pg=PA110}}</ref>

<ref name = "Ridgway">{{cite journal | journal = Bulletin of the United States National Museum | volume = 50 | issue = 5 | title = The Birds of North and Middle America | first = Robert | last = Ridgway | year = 1911 | pages = 765–767 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3z1h3EvhIfoC&pg=PA765 }}</ref>

<ref name = "Short">{{cite journal | title = Interspecies Flocking of Birds of Montane Forest in Oaxaca, Mexico | first = Lester L. | last = Short Jr. | journal = The Wilson Bulletin | date = December 1961 | volume = 73 | issue = 4 | pages = 341–347| jstor = 4158970 | url = https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v073n04/p0341-p0347.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name = "Skutch">{{cite journal | journal = The Auk | volume = 59 | issue = 3 | date = July 1942 | pages = 341–363 | url = https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v059n03/p0341-p0363.pdf | last = Skutch | first = Alexander F. | title = Life History of the Mexican trogon | doi = 10.2307/4079204 | jstor = 4079204 }}</ref>

<ref name = "Webster">{{cite book | title = The Road to El Cielo: Mexico's Forest in the Clouds | first1 = Fred | last1 = Webster | first2 = Marie S.| last2 = Webster | year = 2001 | location = Austin, TX, US | publisher = University of Texas Press | isbn = 978-0-292-76288-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=45WhAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT107 }}</ref> }}

===Cited works=== *{{cite book | title = The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Names | url = https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | first = James A. | last = Jobling | year = 2010 | location = London, UK | publisher = Christopher Helm | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 }}

==External links== {{Commons category|Trogon mexicanus}} * {{VIREO|Mountain+trogon}} * {{InternetBirdCollection|mountain-trogon-trogon-mexicanus|Mountain trogon}} * {{Xeno-canto species|Trogon|mexicanus|Mountain trogon}}

mountain trogon Category:Birds of Mexico Category:Birds of Guatemala Category:Birds of Honduras mountain trogon Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Category:Taxa named by William Swainson