Harpactes fasciatus
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 ~10% in a week ~20%
The Malabar trogon (Harpactes fasciatus) is a species of bird in the trogon family. It is found in the forests of India and Sri Lanka. In India, it is mainly found in the Western Ghats, hill forests of central India and in parts of the Eastern Ghats. They are insectivorous and although not migratory, may move seasonally in response to rain in hill forest regions. Like in other trogons, males and females vary in plumage. The birds utter low, guttural calls that can be heard only at close quarters, and perch still on a branch under the forest canopy, often facing away from the viewer, making them easy to miss despite their colourful plumage.
Like most other trogons, these birds are brightly coloured and sexually dimorphic. The male has a slaty-black head and breast, with a white border on the black bib separating it from the crimson on the underside. The back is olive-brown to chestnut. The wing coverts are black with fine white vermiculations. They have 12 tail feathers that are graduated. The central tail-feathers are chestnut with a black tip, with the second and third pairs from the middle having more black than chestnut. The outer three pairs have long white tips... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
No species of the same family or order lives in Horton Plains National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other birds.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Malabar Trogon sighting in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 71st most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, August and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Malabar Trogon in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–July, September–October and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malabar Trogon sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Malabar Trogon sightings, Horton Plains National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 40%), Periyar National Park (India, about 30%) and Nagarhole National Park (India, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malabar Trogon is recorded against all the birds logged in Horton Plains National Park (17 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.
