Orange-breasted Trogon

The orange-breasted trogon is a compact forest bird with soft plumage, a broad bill and the upright posture typical of trogons. Males have an olive-green head and breast, chestnut back, black-and-white wings and a vivid orange belly separated from the breast by a pale band. Females replace the male's richer tones with greyer green and warmer brown. The long square-ended tail is patterned black and white below. Birds often sit quietly in the lower or middle canopy, turning the head to locate prey (Oiseaux.net; Wikipedia, general species account).

It is resident from southern China across mainland Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula to Borneo, Sumatra and Java. Habitats include humid lowland and montane evergreen forest, bamboo, swamp forest and secondary woodland. From a shaded perch it sallies after insects, spiders and small lizards and occasionally eats fruit. Both adults excavate a cavity in a decayed stump or branch, incubate the two or three eggs and provision the chicks. Thai nests had incubation periods of 17–18 days (Steward and Pierce 2011).