Trogon melanocephalus
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The black-headed trogon (Trogon melanocephalus) is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The black-headed trogon is treated as monotypic by the International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World.
This article follows the monotypic model. The black-headed trogon is 27 to 28 cm (11 to 11 in) long and weighs about 74 to 95 g (2.6 to 3.4 oz). Adults of both sexes have slate-black to black head, neck, and chest. A sky-blue ring of bare skin surrounds the dark eye. A thin white line separates the chest from the rest of their underparts, which are cadmium to chrome yellow that becomes lighter at the vent area. The two inner pairs of tail feathers are metallic bronze breen to bluish green with black tips. The next pair are all black and the outermost three pairs are black with wide white tips. Their wings are slate black with some white. Adult males' upperparts are bright metallic... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 3 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Trogon sighting in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 94 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 31st most-seen of the 240 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Trogon in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in December, the lowest month. That is one of Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve's wettest months, with about 370 mm of rain against 55 mm in March.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-headed 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.
11th of 23
Of the 23 parks where we can rate Black-headed Trogon sightings, Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve ranks 11th at about 30%. The best odds are in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 60%), Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 50%) and Ostional Wildlife Refuge (Costa Rica, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Trogon
The closest relatives of the Black-headed Trogon that you can see in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (genus Trogon, New World Trogons) are Gartered Trogon (about 40%), Slaty-tailed Trogon (about 20%) and Collared Trogon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-headed Trogon is recorded against all the birds logged in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (94 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.
