Monday, January 31, 2011

Strikingly Beautiful Birds - Elegant Trogon

Southeastern Arizona is often referred to as a "birding hot spot" or a birders Mecca, and with good reason. When you make your first trip there you could well see many, many life listers - 40 or 50 new birds would not be unusual. This is because it is the northern limit of many tropical species. One of the most sought after birds is one that is breathtakingly beautiful to behold - the Elegant Trogon (historical note: when I was a kid it was known as the Coppery-tailed Trogon, and it was a mythical bird for me). It was a source of great excitement for me to find this bird on a trip to southeastern Arizona, as it probably was for you if you were fortunate enough to find it. I was able to track it down based on its loud, unusual dog-like call, a very thrilling moment in my birding life.

Below is a remarkable video of this rare and marvelous bird. Note the location in the video, as it sounds like it has been found there before. Enjoy!

************



************


Elegant Trogon, South Arizona, Mexico

************


Male Elegant Trogon (Trogon Elegans), Arizona, USA

at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Featured Post

Citizen Scientist - Reporting Leg Flags

My brother was recently in Florida and had occasion to photograph a shorebird in winter plumage that he could not immediately identify. Whil...

  • The Skua - A Unique Bird of Prey
    I have never been able to go on a Antarctic trip so I have never seen a   South Polar Skua . I was recently reading the book "Living o...
  • A Wondrous Whooping Crane Sighting
    For most of my birding life if you wanted to see a Whooping Crane (and of course add it to your Life List) you had to make a pilgrimage down...
  • The Layered Evolution of a Birder
    I have been thinking about my evolution as a birder lately. I have noticed a kind of layering that has been added stage wise to my perspecti...