Swellegant
The elegant trogon lives up to its name.
By: Rick Burkman
Swellegant
In Madera Canyon, part of the Santa Rita Mountains that rise above the Sonoran Desert in southeastern Arizona, there is a quiet, slow-moving, dove-sized bird with an emerald back that has just a touch of iridescent copper in its feathers— the resplendent elegant trogon (Trogon elegans). The parrot-like green back makes this bird striking, but it is the flame-red belly topped with a black chest and head, crisp white border, yellow bill, orange eye-ring, silvery gray wing coverts, and long tail that make it true to its name. It is, indeed, an elegant bird.