Whitehead's Trogon

It was Richard Bowdler Sharpe, a British ornithologist (1847-1909) who described this trogon and named it Harpactes whiteheadi, in honour of John Whitehead (1830-1899), a British explorer who discovered this species during his travels to Borneo in 1884. Bird enthusiasts will recognize the same strain of name with the Firecrest, whose scientific name is Sitta whiteheadi, discovered by the same Whitehead in 1882. Whitehead's Trogon is 30 cm long with distinct dimorphism in appearance; the male has black lores and throat, a strong blue-cobalt beak with black tip; dark brown iris with a large blue-cobalt orbital ring. Forward, crown and nape are vivid red; chest is grey-silver and in contrast with the red belly; mantle, scapulars and back are brightly shining chestnut-brown. Black coverts have thin, horizontal white vermiculations; the remiges remain black, distinctly marked with white at the emarginations. Its central rectrices are chestnut, darker than chestnut-brown back, barred with black at the tip; the second and third pairs of lateral rectrices are black, while the outer rectrices which the trogon shows when facing forward are white; if Whitehead's Trogon slightly opens its outer rectrices, it will show its black lateral rectrices. The female has light brown to ochre head, still black lores and throat, the same blue colouration observed on the beak and orbital ring as with the male. The grey-silver chest gives way to an ochre-yellow belly; the nape and mantle are chestnut brown, while the back and rump are of the same yellow hue as the belly. The coverts are dark brown, with wide chamois vermiculations; the black remiges are marked with white at the emarginations.The flight feathers are similar to those of the male. Juveniles have been little observed, they are probably brownish with diffuse white spots and will eventually take on the striking red of the male or cinnamon brown of the female.