Tag: trogon

(Blogger's note: Sorry, a long overdue post, we have been busy with the upcoming 7th Philippine Bird Festival. Try to come and join us. Visit www.birdwatch.ph or click here for more details ) This is a Philippine Trogon, a strikingly beautiful endemic found only in the islands of Luzon and its satellites, Samar, Leyte, Bohol and Mindanao. It is very colorful bird, probably more than 7 colors in the male - with its bill yellow-tipped with a pea-green base, cobalt blue facial skin surrounding a dark brown eye, a black forecrown while the hind crown and nape purplish maroon; back and rump orange rufous, and a deep red belly. And we did not even include the highly-debated "colors" black and white for the wing coverts and the primaries. 🙂 This endemic inhabits forests up to 2000 meters and is usually seen singly or in pairs with a more drab-looking (but still beautiful) female. It feeds on insects and fruits and nests on holes in dead hollow trees similar to woodpecker nests. The call is described in the field guide as a soft nuu nu nu nu nu nu nu nuuu rising and accelerating with the first few notes m then gradually descending and slowing to the end. For me, it is similar to a neighing horse. 🙂 Philippine Trogon, Harpactes ardens July 2011, Mt. Bulusan, Sorsogon, Luzon, Philippines