Malabar Trogon

The Malabar Trogon (Harpactes fasciatus) is the only trogon found in Sri Lanka, and one of the most striking birds of the island's forests. It is not endemic: the species also lives in the Western Ghats and other forests of peninsular India. But with its crimson underparts, finely barred wings and habit of sitting motionless for long periods, it is a highlight of any forest birding walk, and a bird that visiting birders often name as a favourite.

How do you identify a Malabar Trogon?

The Malabar Trogon is a medium-sized bird, about 30 cm long, with a large head, a short, broad bill and a long, square-ended tail. It sits upright on a branch, usually in the shade of the middle storey, and can be surprisingly hard to spot until it moves.

• Male: black head and breast, a narrow white band across the chest, and bright crimson underparts. The back is warm cinnamon-brown and the wing coverts are finely barred black and white.
• Female: brown head and breast, with orange-buff underparts in place of the male's crimson.
• Both sexes: bare blue skin around the eye, a bluish bill, and a tail that shows broad white edges from below.

The call is a series of soft, mewing notes, often the first sign that a trogon is nearby.

What does the Malabar Trogon eat?

Trogons are mainly insect eaters. The Malabar Trogon watches from a perch, then makes a short flight to snatch a caterpillar, moth, beetle or cicada from a leaf or branch, often hovering briefly before returning to a perch. It also takes some fruit. Because it hunts in this patient, sit-and-wait way, it can stay on one branch for many minutes, which makes it rewarding to watch once found.

Like other trogons, it nests in a cavity it digs into a rotting tree stump or dead trunk, so it depends on mature forest with standing dead wood.

Where can you see the Malabar Trogon in Sri Lanka?

The species is a resident of forest across much of the island, from the lowland wet zone into the hills. It needs tall, shaded forest and is rarely seen in open country or gardens.

• Sinharaja Forest Reserve — the most reliable site. Trogons often travel with the mixed-species feeding flocks that move through the rainforest in the early morning. See our guide to birdwatching from Sinharaja Rainforest.
• Kitulgala — the forest along the Kelani River is a well-known birding area within a few hours of Colombo.
• Knuckles Mountain Range — forest patches in the hills hold the species at higher altitudes.

Tips for seeing a Malabar Trogon

• Go early. Mixed feeding flocks are most active in the first hours after dawn, and the trogon is often with them.
• Look in the middle storey. Scan horizontal branches in the shade, a few metres above the trail, rather than the canopy.
• Listen first. The soft call carries better than you might expect; a local guide will recognise it immediately.
• Move slowly. A perched trogon often stays put if you stop and wait, so a slow walk gives the best views and photographs.

Is the Malabar Trogon endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List classes the Malabar Trogon as Least Concern. Like other forest birds, though, it depends on the survival of tall, undisturbed forest, which makes protected areas such as Sinharaja important for it. For the birds found only in Sri Lanka, see our page on Sri Lanka's endemic birds.