Red-naped trogon
| Red-naped trogon | |
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| Female and male | |
| Song recorded near Bangar, Brunei | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Trogoniformes |
| Family: | Trogonidae |
| Genus: | Harpactes |
| Species: | H. kasumba |
| Binomial name | |
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Harpactes kasumba (Raffles, 1822) |
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| distribution | |
The red-naped trogon (Harpactes kasumba) is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The red-naped trogon was discovered in 1822 by Sir Stamford Raffles, a military and British naturalist (1781-1826) best known for having founded Singapore in 1817.
The red-naped trogon is a strongly sexually dimorphic species, with the females generally being duller than the males. The male red-naped trogon is physically defined by a black head and upper breast, blue bill and eye ring with a bright blue coloured face. He has yellow-brown upperparts and upper tail with black outlines, a white breast-line, bright red underparts and the under-tail is black and white. The most defining physical characteristic of the red-naped trogon is a band of bright red feathers around the back of the head, which gives the species its name. The females are blander in colour than the males, consisting of a grey-brown head and upper breast with yellow underparts.
Both the males and females grow in height up to 32 centimetres, or 12.5 inches. They have a life span of approximately 7.3 years. Their legs and feet are short and weak which makes them unable to walk, instead they are limited to the occasional shuffle along a branch. The ratio of leg muscle to body weight in all Trogonidae species is only 3%, the lowest known ratio of any bird. The arrangement of the toes on Trogonidae species feet is also unique among birds and are arranged with the third and fourth toes projecting forward and the first and second toes projecting backwards, an arrangement known as heterodactylous. Because of this arrangement, the red-naped trogon is unable to turn around on a branch if its wings are not aiding the movement.
They have compact bodies, short wings and a long tail. Though the wings are short, they are quite strong, with the wing muscle ratio being approximately 22% of the body weight. In spite of their strength of flight, red-naped trogons do not fly great distances, generally flying no more than a few hundred metres at a time.
Red-naped trogons are generally inactive outside of their regular feeding patterns. Because of this, birdwatchers and biologists have noted that “apart from their general beauty, they are notorious for their lack of other immediately engaging qualities”. Their lack of activity has been considered a defence against predation. As with other Trogonidae species, red-naped trogons have been reported to shift along branches to keep their dull coloured backs turned towards observers, while their heads, which can rotate at 180 degrees like owls, are turned to keep watch on any potential predators. They are preyed upon by hawks and predatory mammals.
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Wikipedia