April 24
The Troginidae Family
The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes which contains only one family, the Trogonidae. The family Trogonidae contains 39 species in seven genera. The word trogon is Greek for "nibbling" and refers to the fact that these birds gnaw holes in trees to make their nests. Trogons are residents of tropical forests worldwide. The greatest diversity is in the Neotropics, where four genera, containing 24 species occur. The genus Apaloderma contains the three African species. The genera Harpactes and Apalharpactes, containing twelve species, are found in southeast Asia.[4
What you should really need to know is that they are the only type of animal with a heterodactyl toe arrangement. Huh! That means digits 3 and 4 point forward and digits 1 and 2 point backward. More stuff you wish you could forget.
We have been lucky to see half of the 14 species found in Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama.
Stay Well !
Black-headed Trogon
The first trogons I photographed were on the Papagayo Peninsula, Costa Rica in 2008. I took this image with a point and shoot camera. Windsurfing gear was prioritized over camera gear back then.
Black-throated Trogon
It wasn’t until March 2017 that I photographed another trogon. This one was further south on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
Our best trogon day ever was on March 26, 2019 in Gamboa near the Panama Canal. We saw four species that day.
Black-tailed Trogon
Gartered Trogan
Slaty-tailed Trogon
White-tailed Trogon
Elegant Trogon
The most recent addition to my trogon photographs is the Elegant Trogan that I saw near Puerto Vallarta in January this year.
Resplendent Quetzal
The holy grail of neotropical birds is the Resplendent Quetzal. When Connor mentioned this bird to his teacher, she questioned whether that was really the name of a bird.
We were fortunate to see them a few times when we were in the mountains of Panama. They were difficult to photograph but always amazing to see.
