Slaty-tailed Trogon

Overview

The Slaty-tailed Trogon (Trogon massena) is one of the larger trogons in Central America, instantly recognized in the male by its brilliant metallic-green head and upperparts, scarlet-red belly, and distinctive plain slate-gray undertail with black tips — the feature that gives the species its English name. The bill is a deep orange-red. Females replace the male’s green with gray, retaining the red belly and the same broad-tailed silhouette. Both sexes have a characteristic upright perch posture, sitting motionless for long intervals while scanning for fruit or insects.

Like all trogons, it relies on a combination of still-hunting from a fixed perch and short sallying flights to snatch fruit or invertebrates from foliage. It also excavates nest cavities in active or abandoned termite mounds and rotten wood, sometimes at heights up to 15 metres.

Why Tortuguero

The Slaty-tailed Trogon is a lowland specialist — its tolerance for elevation drops sharply above 600 m — making Tortuguero’s flat, wet Caribbean forest essentially prime habitat. It is one of the few trogon species that persists in old secondary growth as well as primary forest, but mature trees with large termite mounds are important for nesting. The park’s combination of undisturbed primary forest and canal-edge secondary growth supports a healthy resident population. This species has also been recorded following White-faced Capuchin troops to capture insects flushed by the monkeys’ movement through the canopy.

How to see them (honestly)

• The call — a low, repetitive cow-cow-cow series that accelerates toward the end — is the most reliable detection method; listen on any trail in primary forest at dawn
• Look for the unmistakable upright perch on a mid-canopy branch, often in a partially shaded spot with fruit-bearing trees nearby
• Patient waiting near a fruiting fig or Cecropia is more productive than active searching
• Males are easier to pick out than females; the green-red contrast is striking even in forest shadow

Status note

The IUCN lists the Slaty-tailed Trogon as Least Concern with a stable population, though no precise global estimate exists. Its principal threats are logging of mature forest and agricultural conversion — processes that are largely contained within Tortuguero National Park’s boundaries. The species’ association with lowland wet forest makes it a good indicator of primary forest integrity; its continued presence at Tortuguero signals that the old-growth core remains intact.