''Harpactes'' is a genus of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s in the family
Trogonidae found in forests in
South and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
, extending into southernmost
China. They are strongly
sexually dimorphic
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...
, with females generally being duller than males. Their back is brownish, the tail is partially white (best visible from below), and males of most species have red underparts. They feed on
arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...
s, small lizards and fruit.
Two species,
cinnamon-rumped and
scarlet-rumped trogons, were previously classified in a separate genus, ''Duvaucelius'', and a 2010 study found that these two were closely related and formed a separate clade from all of the other ''Harpactes'' trogons (except
orange-breasted trogon, which forms a third group), but recommended that all three groups should be treated as congeneric.
This same study also found that the genus ''
Apalharpactes'', containing two species sometimes included in ''Harpactes'', is actually distantly related and thus a valid genus.
Species
References
* Allen, R. (2001). Genus ''Harpactes''. pp. 106–111 in: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & J. Sargatal. eds. (2001). ''
Handbook of the Birds of the World''. Vol. 6. Mousebirds to Hornbills. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q926652
Bird genera
Taxa named by William John Swainson