Malabar Trogon

Brightly-colored but sluggish medium-sized bird. Unmistakable; the only trogon in its range. Male has black head, white “belt,” and bright red belly. Female has a brown head and orangish underparts. Both sexes have a bright blue bill. Sits quietly in the middle levels of forests, often near bamboo clusters; also follows mixed-species foraging flocks. Gives a series of inflected yelps: “kweh, kweh, kweh.

In Sri Lanka, the Malabar Trogon primarily inhabits the humid forests of the central wet zone, particularly within the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, where it is most commonly found; they are less frequent in dry and hill country areas of the island.

In Sri Lanka, the Malabar Trogon primarily feeds on a diet of insects, including caterpillars, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas, bugs, and stick insects, with no significant fruit consumption observed in their diet unlike some New World trogons; although some sources mention occasional seeds being consumed by Sri Lankan individuals.