RANGE: Southwestern United States, Central America

STATUS: Global population is stable, but the trogon is considered Critically Imperiled in New Mexico

THREATS: Once nearly wiped out by collectors

The elegant trogon is one of the more colorful and exotic birds of tropical and semi-tropical open woodlands and forests. This relative of the quetzal has distinctive green, orange, white, and black coloring and a long, greenish-blue coppery tail. The elegant trogon feeds on insects and fruit and nests in abandoned woodpecker holes and cavities in trees. Its unmistakable, surprising call is an awkward, barking croak — a sound that has been said to “fit the lovely bird about as well as glasses would fit the Mona Lisa.”