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The Narina trogon (''Apaloderma narina'') is a largely green and red, medium-sized (32–34 cm long), bird of the family
Trogonidae. It is native to forests and woodlands of the
Afrotropics
The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...
. Though it is the most widespread and catholic in habitat choice of the three ''
Apaloderma'' species, their numbers are locally depleted due to
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
.
[ Some populations are sedentary while others undertake regular movements.
]
Description
left, 160px,
It is sexually dimorphic, with males more brightly coloured. Both sexes have vivid, gingery green upperpart plumage. The tail feathers have a metallic blue-green gloss. The outer three rectices on each side are tipped and fringed white, giving the undertail of perched birds a characteristic white appearance (compare bar-tailed trogon). The wing coverts are a grizzled grey, and remiges mostly colourless grey.
The male especially, has bright amaranth
''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual plant, annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some names include "prostrate pigweed" an ...
red underside plumage and bare, green gape and eye flanges. The female has brown face and chest plumage, blue skin orbiting the eyes and duller red plumage below. Immature birds resemble females but have distinct white tips to the tertials (inner wing), and less distinct gape and eye flanges.
Range and habitat
The species has a large range in Africa, inhabiting lowland to highland, valley and riparian forest
A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, Sink (geography), sink, or reservoir. Due to the broad nature of the definitio ...
s, from tropical to temperate regions, those occurring in highlands dispersing seasonally to lower levels. It is found from Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
to Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, and east Africa
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
to eastern and southern South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. Due to its wide range and varied habitat choice, the Narina trogon is considered to be a species of least conservation concern.
Habits and nesting
The diet consists mainly of insects and small invertebrates as well as rodents and small reptiles. The call is a grating, low repeated hoot, given by males only, in defending territory or attracting mates. The male's bare, blue-green throat patch is expanded when calling and both sexes may fluff out the breast feathers in display. They nest in a tree hollow in which both sexes incubate or brood.
Races
There are 4 to 6 accepted races:Rift Valley
A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear ...
* ''A. n.'' subsp. ''littorale'' van Someren, 1931 – Type from Sokoke Forest
:Range: Somalia to Chirinda Forest, Zimbabwe
* ''A. n.'' subsp. ''rufiventre'' A.J.C.Dubois, 1897 – Type from Mpala, DRC
:Range: s DRC to s Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia to Eastern Highlands
:''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.''
The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe ...
* ''A. n.'' subsp. ''narina'' (Stephens, 1815) – Type from Knysna
Knysna (; ) is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It is situated 60 kilometres east of the c ...
, South Africa
:Range: South Africa to s Mozambique, winters northwards to Malawi
References
External links
BirdLife Species Factsheet
* Narina trogon
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q370629
Narina trogon
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
Narina trogon