The elegance of an Elegant Trogon


   May 5, 2022

   Ramsey Canyon, Arizona


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So I went to South East Arizona, come here see exotic birds they said. They were right! I had a few target birds but the bird that drew the biggest interest from my birding buddies was the Elegant Trogon. All asked " are you after the Trogon?" I had planned 3 days in Madera canyon to get this elusive bird and when I talked abut it to Tony Batiste of Batiste's Bird,Bed and Breakfast, he said there is one in Ramsey canyon not 5 minutes from here. He gave me what seemed like simple directions and I thought well it cant be that easy so instead I spent the morning chasing rarity hummingbirds. It was around noon and I thought well i will grab a quick bite and head to the canyon. Got there , parked and began following the directions he had given me. I was alone on the trail and then I heard a barking. The call of a trogon? It was so loud ! I looked all around up in the air and saw nothing and then I looked at a flutter in front of a bush. There he sat not 20 feet from me ! I pull my camera up and fire off a few pics not believing my luck. Bird flies off and I am just standing there in disbelief. I chimp my screen and know I just got lucky!

  Show me the Facts

The elegant trogon is a near passerine bird in the trogon family. Along with the eared quetzal, it is the most poleward-occurring species of trogon in the world, ranging from Guatemala in the south as far north as the upper Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico.- Wikipedia
Scientific name: Trogon elegans
Family: Trogonidae

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