{"id":264748,"date":"2026-03-20T06:13:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fauna\/masked-trogon-male\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T16:10:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T21:10:31","slug":"masked-trogon-male","status":"publish","type":"fauna","link":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/fauna\/masked-trogon-male\/","title":{"rendered":"Masked Trogon (male)"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trogon personatus<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":264735,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":""},"collection":[],"country":[11],"fauna-group":[27561],"fauna-type":[27217],"star-rating":[],"class_list":["post-264748","fauna","type-fauna","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","country-colombia","fauna-group-trogons","fauna-type-birds"],"acf":{"scientific_name":"Trogon personatus","animal_description":"The male Masked Trogon (*Trogon personatus*) is a breathtaking inhabitant of South American montane forests, renowned for its vibrant and sharply contrasting plumage. This striking bird features a shimmering metallic green head and back that gives way to a brilliant crimson belly, separated by a crisp white horizontal band across the breast. Its namesake \"mask\" is a deep black patch covering the face and throat, which serves to highlight its sturdy yellow bill and a distinctive, fleshy reddish-orange eye-ring. Adding to its ornamental beauty is a long, squared tail characterized by intricate black-and-white horizontal barring on the underside. Often found perching motionless in the misty mid-canopy of the Andes, the male Masked Trogon is a true avian jewel that combines regal elegance with a specialized lifestyle of hunting insects and plucking highland fruits.","animal_habitat":"This species is primarily distributed throughout the humid montane regions of South America, following the Andean range from Venezuela and Colombia southward through Ecuador and Peru to central Bolivia. It is also found in disjointed populations across the tepuis and highland regions of southern Venezuela, Guyana, and northern Brazil.\n\nIts preferred habitats include the canopy and mid-story of humid montane forests and cloud forests, often characterized by heavy epiphyte growth. While closely associated with primary forest, it also adapts to forest edges, mature second-growth woodlands, and occasionally semi-open shrublands, typically occurring at elevations between 1,100 and 3,300 meters.","animal_behavior_and_reproduction":"The male is primarily solitary or lives in pairs, maintaining a quiet presence within the mid-to-upper levels of the forest canopy. During the breeding season, he becomes more conspicuous, using repetitive, rhythmic vocalizations to define his territory and attract a mate. While generally sedentary, he exhibits territorial aggression toward other males, using his vibrant red plumage and upright perching posture as visual signals to deter intruders.\n\nIn terms of reproduction, this species is monogamous and typically nests in cavities excavated from decaying wood or abandoned termite mounds. A notable reproductive strategy is the active participation of the male in the nesting process; he shares incubation duties with the female and contributes significantly to brooding and feeding the chicks. This cooperative approach to parenting is essential for protecting the nest from predators and ensuring the young develop successfully in their humid, high-altitude habitats.","diet":"The male Masked Trogon sustains itself on an omnivorous diet that strikes a balance between nutrient-rich fruits and high-protein invertebrates. It is particularly drawn to the small, fleshy fruits of the Lauraceae family, which it typically plucks while hovering momentarily in mid-air rather than perching. Complementing its frugivorous habits, this bird is an agile hunter of insects such as caterpillars, beetles, and cicadas, often sallying out from a lookout branch to snatch prey from foliage or mid-flight. An intriguing aspect of its feeding behavior is its role as a vital seed disperser; because it swallows fruits whole and later regurgitates the large seeds undamaged, it helps facilitate the growth of new trees throughout its montane forest habitat. Additionally, when dealing with larger or more robust insect prey, the male is known to strike the victim against a branch repeatedly to soften it or remove wings before consumption.","colors":"Male Masked Trogons feature a brilliant red belly and iridescent green upperparts, often separated by a narrow white chest band. They are distinguished by a bold black facial mask, a bright yellow bill, and a red eye-ring. Their long tails exhibit intricate black and white horizontal barring on the outer feathers, which contrasts with their otherwise solid, vivid coloration.","fun_facts":"The male Masked Trogon is a master of the \"freeze\" technique, sitting perfectly still and upright for long stretches to remain undetected by predators despite his vibrant red and green plumage. When it comes to dining, these birds are acrobatic \"salliers,\" hovering mid-air for just a split second to pluck fruit or snatch insects directly from foliage. Perhaps most uniquely, they often excavate their nests inside active or abandoned arboreal termite mounds, utilizing the insects' hard structures for protection. They also possess a specialized \"heterodactyl\" foot arrangement, where the first two toes point backward and the others forward, a rare adaptation that helps them maintain their characteristic vertical posture on mossy branches.","conservation_status_&_efforts":"The Masked Trogon is currently classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List due to its extensive geographic range across the humid highland forests of South America. While its total population size has not been precisely quantified, the trend is generally considered stable, although it may be declining locally in regions experiencing high rates of land-use change. The primary threats facing this species are habitat loss and fragmentation caused by deforestation for agriculture, cattle ranching, and logging within its specialized cloud forest and montane habitats.\n\nConservation efforts are largely integrated into the management of protected areas where the species resides, such as Podocarpus National Park in Ecuador and various biological reserves across the Andes. Because the species relies on specific nesting cavities in decaying wood, maintaining old-growth forest characteristics is crucial for its long-term survival. Broader regional initiatives aimed at forest connectivity and mitigating the impacts of climate change also play a vital role, as shifts in temperature and moisture levels can significantly alter the delicate montane ecosystems upon which this bird depends.","endemic":false,"migratory":false,"nocturnal":false,"conservation_status":"Least Concern","ebird_link":{"url":"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/mastro1","title":"View on Ebird","target":"_blank"},"animal_related_page":{"url":"https:\/\/animalia.bio\/masked-trogon","title":"View on Animalia","target":"_blank"},"fauna_family":"Trogonidae","fauna_known_nicknames":"Highland Trogon","fauna_average_length":"25\u201328 cm \/ 9.8\u201311 in","fauna_average_weight":"54\u201370 g \/ 1.9\u20132.5 oz","fauna_wingspan":"30\u201335 cm \/ 11.8\u201313.8 in","fauna_key_physical_feature":"Metallic green upperparts, bright red underparts, and a black facial mask with a red orbital ring","fauna_primary_diet":"Omnivore (Insects and small fruits)","fauna_geographical_range":"Andean highlands from Venezuela to Bolivia, and isolated mountains in the Guiana Shield","fauna_preferred_habitat":"Humid montane forests and cloud forests","fauna_social_structure":"Solitary or paired","fauna_breeding_site":"Tree cavities or arboreal termite nests","fauna_conservation_status":"Least Concern (LC)","fauna_population_trend":"Decreasing","fauna_spanish_name":"Trog\u00f3n enmascarado","fauna_french_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna\/264748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fauna"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=264748"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=264748"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-group?post=264748"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-type?post=264748"},{"taxonomy":"star-rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/star-rating?post=264748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}