Apalharpactes

Sumatran Trogon by Jappalang, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Etymology: Trogon

First Described By: Bonaparte, 1854

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Coraciimorphae, Cavitaves, Eucavitaves, Trogoniformes, Trogonidae

Referred Species: A. mackloti (Sumatran Trogon), A. reinwardtii (Javan Trogon)

Status: Extant

Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

The Blue-Tailed Trogons live in the Southern Pacific ocean islands 

Physical Description: Apalharpactes are medium-sized birds, ranging between 30 and 34 centimeters long, with distinctively blue-green and yellow plumage. They have blue-green backs, olive chests, and yellow bellies and necks. Both species have distinctive turquoise eye patches and long, rectangular blue tails. Their beaks are very small, slightly curved, and red. They also have fairly tiny feet for perching.  Their wings are fairly short, for maneuvering through the trees.

Diet: Both species feed on green caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, bugs, cicadas, stick-insects, and other kinds of insects. These are caught in flight. Fruits are also fed upon, especially figs. 

Javan Trogon by Lip Kee Yap, CC BY 2.0 

Behavior: These trogons will spend most of their time flitting about between dense trees, grabbing as many as they can on the wing. They usually feed more alone than note, though they’ll occasionally join mix-species flocks for their hunting. They’ll make hoarse calls to one another, such as chieer-chieer, turr, and wiwiwiwi, repeated extensively throughout the day.

Neither of these trogons migrate, but spend all of their time in their own limited range. The Javan Trogon breeds through April to June, with eggs laid in late August and September; the Sumatran Trogon breeds slightly earlier. Both species will lay between 1 and 3 eggs, and little else is known about their breeding habits.

Ecosystem: These beautiful birds live in the lower storeys of mountain rainforests, usually on the lower slopes of these mountains. 

Sumatran Trogon by Dougjj, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Other: These species used to be combined into one under the name of Blue-Tailed Trogon, before being split up into two separate species. While the Sumatran Trogon is not endangered, the Javan Trogon has a much more limited range and is vulnerable to extinction due to habitat loss. 

Species Differences: The Javan Trogon is much bigger than the Sumatran Trogon, and in addition, the Sumatran Trogon has a brown patch on its butt that is not present in the Javan Trogon. They live on completely different islands as well.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

Collar, N. & Sharpe, C.J. (2019). Javan Trogon (Apalharpactes reinwardtii). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.  

Collar, N. (2019). Sumatran Trogon (Apalharpactes mackloti). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Jobling, J. A. 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Christopher Helm Publishing, A&C Black Publishers Ltd, London.