About Trogon rufus chrysochloros Pelzeln, 1856
Like most trogons, the Amazonian black-throated trogon (Trogon rufus chrysochloros Pelzeln, 1856) has distinctive male and female plumage made up of soft, colorful feathers. This relatively small species measures 24 to 26 cm (9.4 to 10 inches) long and weighs 45 to 60 g (1.6 to 2.1 ounces).
Adult males of the nominate subspecies T. r. rufus have a black forehead and face, with a pale blue ring of bare skin surrounding the eye. Their crown, back, lesser wing coverts, rump, and uppertail coverts are metallic green to blue. Their flight feathers, primary coverts, and secondary coverts display various black and white patterns. The upper side of their tail is metallic green to blue with a black band at the tip, while the underside of the tail has narrow black bars and moderate-width white bars. Their chin and throat are black, their upper breast is metallic green to blue, and their lower breast and belly are yellow; sometimes there is a thin white band below the upper breast.
Adult females have mostly brown upperparts, with a darker crown and lighter rump and uppertail coverts. Their face is brown, with a pale blue ring of bare skin around the eye. Their primaries are mostly fuscous-black with a narrow white edge on their outer webs. Their secondaries and greater and median coverts are copper with a dusky tinge. Their lesser wing coverts are black with brown tips. The upper side of their tail is mostly dark reddish brown with a wide black band at the tip, and the underside has narrow black and white bars. Their throat and upper breast are paler brown than their back, with a white band below the upper breast, and their lower breast and belly are yellow.
Immature birds resemble adults but are duller, and young males have brown throats, breasts, and wing coverts. Males have a mostly bright yellow to yellow-green bill; females' bills are highly variable, ranging from black with some yellow to dusky yellow with some black. Nestlings and juveniles have a mostly black bill. All ages of both sexes have a dark brown iris. Adults have bluish gray legs and feet, while nestlings and juveniles can have pinkish legs and feet.
Both sexes of the subspecies T. r. sulphureus are larger than the nominate subspecies. Males have a yellow or yellow-green eye ring, and a golden-green rump. The upper side of their tail is mostly reddish copper with a black band at the end and a green band between the two colors. The black and white bars on the underside are both wider than those of the nominate, and they usually have little or no white on their breast. Females have a green or yellow-green eye ring, a narrower black band on the upper side of the tail than the nominate, and wider black and white bars on the tail underside than the nominate.
Males of the subspecies T. r. amazonicus have a yellow or yellow-green eye ring, a golden-green rump, and a golden-green chest. The upper side of their tail is mostly reddish copper to shiny olive-green with a black band at the end and a green band between the two. The underside has narrow black bars and medium-width white bars, and they usually have little or no white on their breast. Females have a yellow eye ring. The upper side of their tail is dark reddish brown to very dark brown with a narrow black band at the end, and the black and white bars on the underside are both narrow.
The subspecies of the Amazonian black-throated trogon have the following distributions: T. r. rufus ranges from eastern Venezuela east through the Guianas and northern Brazil to the Atlantic; T. r. sulphureus ranges from east-central and southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador into northeastern Peru, and east into southern Venezuela, western Brazil, and far northern Bolivia; T. r. amazonicus is found in southern Venezuela and northeastern Brazil. T. r. sulphureus and T. r. amazonicus intergrade along the Madeira River, and T. r. rufus and T. r. amazonicus intergrade along the Amazon River.
The Amazonian black-throated trogon generally inhabits the understory to mid-story of humid primary forest interiors and mature secondary forest, where it favors areas near streams. In Colombia it occurs in terra firme forest, and in southwestern Brazil it is sometimes associated with stands of Guadua bamboo. It reaches different maximum elevations across its range: 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in Colombia, 700 m (2,300 ft) in Ecuador, 650 m (2,100 ft) in Peru, 900 m (3,000 ft) in Venezuela, and only about 300 m (1,000 ft) in Bolivia.
