Forest Birds Bird Least Concern (IUCN)

Narina Trogon

Apaloderma narina

A brilliant emerald-and-crimson forest bird that sits so still, facing away, that it is almost impossible to see.

Where to look: Arusha National Park — Mount Meru forest Lake Manyara National Park — groundwater forest Mahale Mountains National Park Eastern Arc and coastal forests
Best time: Year-round; calling peaks in the breeding season around the rains, September–December.
Habitat: Montane, riverine, groundwater and coastal forest with dense mid-canopy; also well-wooded ravines.

In the field

Photograph coming soon

We publish our own photographs rather than stock pictures, so this profile is waiting on a narina trogon image from one of our guides. It will be added as soon as we have one worth showing — the field notes below are complete in the meantime.

Species profile

About the narina trogon

The Narina trogon is one of Africa's most beautiful birds and one of its most frustrating: metallic emerald-green above with a blazing crimson belly, yet it perches motionless for long periods with its green back turned outward, effectively invisible against the leaves.

It is found by listening. The call is a soft, low, repeated hoot, and patient tracking of that sound through montane forest is the standard method. Arusha National Park's Mount Meru forest is a reliable Tanzanian site.

Life in the wild

Behavior & relationships

Behavior

Sits motionless on a horizontal branch, then sallies out to snatch insects from foliage or the ground before returning to the same perch.

Social life

Monogamous pairs holding a forest territory during breeding; birds are otherwise solitary and quiet.

What makes it remarkable

Special features

Heterodactyl feet — a toe arrangement found only in trogons — and plumage that is dazzling from the front and invisible from behind.

At a glance

Wildlife group: Forest Birds
Type: Bird
Family: Trogonidae
Habitat: Montane, riverine, groundwater and coastal forest with dense mid-canopy; also well-wooded ravines.
Tanzania locations: Arusha National Park — Mount Meru forest
Lake Manyara National Park — groundwater forest
Mahale Mountains National Park
Eastern Arc and coastal forests
Sighting availability: Fairly common in forest but very hard to see; usually found by call.
Best time to see: Year-round; calling peaks in the breeding season around the rains, September–December.

Where to see it

Browse every profile recorded in one of these destinations.

Food & life cycle

Diet: Insectivore. Caterpillars, moths, beetles, grasshoppers and other invertebrates, with occasional small reptiles.
Gestation / incubation: Incubation about 17–20 days; two to four eggs in a natural tree hollow.
Lifespan: Around 8–10 years in the wild.