Malabar Trogon

 

Introduction of Malabar Trogon

Malabar Trogon (Scientific name: Harpactes fasciatus) belongs to the family Trogonidae.  Malabar Trogon is a medium-sized brightly colored bird. It is sexually dimorphic bird means male and female are not look alike. It measures about 30 cm in length and weighs 60 to 65 grams.

How to identify Malabar Trogon

The male Trogon has black head. Breast has white ring which separated the hood from other parts of the body. The upper part is rusty or olive brown. Underparts is bright red.  The wing coverts are black with fine white vermiculations. The  feathers of tail are graduated. The skin around the eyes in blue. The iris is blackish. The feet are pale blue. Their feet are heterodactyl, a feature unique to the trogons, in which the inner toe is turned backward. Tufts of filoplumes cover the nostrils. Both male and female have a bright blue bill.

The female is not as colorful as male. Female has a brown head and orangish or rusty color underparts. 

Habits and Habitats

Malabar Trogon is a forest bird. Dense primary and secondary forests, evergreen forests and semi-evergreen forests are its natural habitats. These birds usually perch still, especially when alarmed and  sometimes cling laterally to branches. They can be seen actively foraging with mixed hunting parties of other insectivorous birds.

Local movements for feeding and breeding has been observed. They move to higher region in summer in the Nilgiri hills.

Distribution

Malabar Trogon species are mostly like to reside in their range. Though local movements for feeding and breeding has been observed. In India it is distributed in the peninsular region mainly in the humid areas of Western and Eastern Ghats. It has three sub-species. 

The  subspecies H. f. legerli is distributed in Northern end of Western Ghats, in South-east Gujarat and South-west Madhya Pradesh. 

The subspecies H. f. malabaricus is found in central and southern Western Ghats, northern parts of Eastern Ghats,  Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal. 

The subspecies H. f. fasciatus is distributed in Sri Lanka.

Call

Malabar Trogon are less vocal. When calling they sometimes raise and lower their tail. The call is a series of guttural or purring notes. The song of the male is a series of percussive kyau calls.

Food

Malabar Trogon are avid insect eater and has the capacity to capture the flying insects from the air. The diet of these trogon species mostly consists of insects like spiders, dragonflies, flies, ants, aphids, caterpillars, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas, bugs and stick-insects. The Sri Lankan subspecies is known to feed on seeds, leaves and berries.

Breeding and Nesting

The male perches himself on a visible branch and and begins to sing. If a female  likes the song, she responds with a tune of her own. They take turns serenading each other for a bit, until they’re convinced they have found a worthy mate. The breeding season of malabar trogon is from February to June in India. In Sri Lanka the breeding season is in March and May. They are generally monogamous. It builds nests in hollows of rotting trees or stumps. Both male and female malabar trogon excavate the nest with their bills and the nest is lined with wood power.  

The clutch usually has two or three eggs. The female incubates the eggs in the night and the male  in the day. The incubation period is 20-22 days. Initially the hatchlings are fed with caterpillars for the first few days. After that, leafhoppers, flies, and praying mantis are included in their diet. Both the parents take care of the  hatchlings till they are five or six months old.