This is an Elegant Trogon (Trogon elegans), one of the two Trogon species that can actually occur in the United States. Two years ago we first observed a female at our site in Curu Wildlife Reserve. This species was normally not found this far south on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. The next year we caught a male in our nets, the bird pictured. The first time we saw the female we chalked it up to a vagrant that might have gone too far down during a migration in search of a reliable fruit source. But with the male being caught the next year we are trying to figure out if it’s a species that might be expanding its range. This will be one of the species will be looking into more as we start our third research season in just a week.
