Coppery-tailed Trogon Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Coppery-tailed Trogons are medium-sized stocky, potbellied birds. They are larger than a robin, with a large, round head, a thick neck, large eyes, and a short, stout bill. Trogons perch upright with their long square-tipped tails pointing straight down.

  Relative Size

  Larger and thicker-bodied than American Robin; about the size of a Belted Kingfisher, with a much longer tail.

  between robin and crow

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 11.0 in (28 cm)
    • Weight: 2.1-2.8 oz (60-78.6 g)

  © Paul Tavares / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Male Coppery-tailed Trogons are brilliant birds with coppery green upperparts and rose-red underparts. They have a broad white breast band that separates the green upper breast from the red belly. The face and throat are black. Females and immatures are patterned similarly to males, but have grayish-brown upperparts with a white teardrop around the eye.

• Behavior

  Coppery-tailed Trogons eat mostly insects. They catch them by watching, motionless, from a perch and then bursting into fluttering flight. They also eat figs and other fruits. Trogons sit very upright on perches, and they make a hoarse, repetitive croaking.
• Habitat

  In Arizona, Coppery-tailed Trogons live mainly in riverside upland oak and sycamore canyons. Look for them also in pine-oak woodlands, edge vegetation, and juniper forests. They favor areas where Arizona Woodpecker, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, and Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher also occur.