Coppery-tailed trogon
Trogon elegans
L 10″
Habitat: Coppery-tailed trogons can be found along riparian streams and in pine-oak forests in Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and southern Texas.
Nest: Nests are found 12 to 40 feet above the ground in deserted large woodpecker holes (Bent 1940). Cottonwood and sycamore snags are usually selected for nests. Of the 34 species in the family Trogonidae, this is the only one that breeds in the United States (Wetmore 1964).
Food: There is little information on the food of these birds, but apparently both animal and vegetable matter are included in the diet. Bent (1940) reported on stomach contents of two birds. One contained adult and larvae of moths and butterflies; the other contained 68 percent insects and 32 percent fruits. Insect food included grasshoppers, praying mantids, stink bugs, leaf beetles, and larvae of hawk moth, sawfly, and miscellaneous other insects. Vegetable food consisted of fruits of cissus and red pepper and undetermined plant fiber.