Trogon bairdii
Silhouette: Keith Murdock (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Baird's trogon (Trogon bairdii) is a bird species belonging to the family Trogonidae, which includes quetzals and trogons. It is native to Costa Rica and Panama. The species is named in honor of Spencer Fullerton Baird, a renowned naturalist of the 19th century who served as the first curator of the Smithsonian Institution.
Baird's trogon is sometimes treated as conspecific with one or both of green-backed trogon (T. viridis) and white-tailed trogon (T. chionurus). They do form a sister group with black-headed trogon (T. melanocephalus) and citreoline trogon (T. citreolus). Baird's trogon is monotypic.
Baird's trogon is 25 to 28 cm (9.8 to 11.0 in) long and weighs about 95 g (3.4 oz). The male's head and most of the breast are bluish black and the rest of the underparts a rich bright red. It has a stout light blue bill and ring around the eye. The upperparts are metallic blue-green and the wings mostly blackish with some white on the primary feathers. The upper side of the tail feathers are greenish- to violet-blue with black tips. Their underside is white with black tips. The female replaces the blue and green with dark slate above and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Baird's Trogon sighting in Carara National Park on a given day, based on 664 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 186th most-seen of the 414 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–May, July–August and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Baird's Trogon in Carara National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, September and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Baird's Trogon sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Baird's Trogon sightings, Carara National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%) and Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same genus: Trogon
The closest relatives of the Baird's Trogon that you can see in Carara National Park (genus Trogon, New World Trogons) are Black-headed Trogon (about 30%), Gartered Trogon (about 20%) and Slaty-tailed Trogon (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Baird's Trogon is recorded against all the birds logged in Carara National Park (664 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
