Black-Headed Trogon

On March 19, 2026 we took a trip into Tikal NP in northern Guatemala. Judy and I stayed the night before at the Hotel Villa Maya, on Laguna Petenchel, in Flores, 25.6 miles from the national park. We were picked up at 5:00 a.m. by Rony (pronounced "Ronny"), a guide identified by our tourist company, Columbus Guatemala Tours, as the best birder in northern Guatemala, so my expectations were great. We were in a van driven by Rony's cousin. 

One of the lifers I saw that morning was a black-headed trogon. It has a black back, neck and chest, a blue ring of bare skin around a dark eye; a thin white line separating the chest from the rest of the underparts which are yellow; with three out black tail feathers that are black with wide white tips. The adult male's upperparts are a bright bluish green to golden green with a blue to violet rump. Adult females are black in those same places. I didn't see the back of our bird, so I'm not sure if it was a male or female. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World. 

It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. 

Range from Birds of the World.