Trogon
Breeding

Trogons are territorial and monogamous. Males will respond quickly to playbacks of their calls and will repel other members of the same species and even other hole-nesting species from around their nesting sites. Males attract females by singing, and, in the case of the resplendent quetzal, undertaking display flights. Some species have been observed in small flocks of 3–12 individuals prior to and sometimes during the breeding season, calling and chasing each other, but the function of these flocks is unclear.

Trogons are cavity nesters. Nests are dug into rotting wood or termite nests, with one species, the violaceous trogon, nesting in wasp nests. Nest cavities can either be deep upward slanting tubes that lead to fully enclosed chambers, or much shallower open niches (from which the bird is visible). Nests are dug with the beak, incidentally giving the family its name. Nest digging may be undertaken by the male alone or by both sexes. In the case of nests dug into tree trunks, the wood must be strong enough not to collapse but soft enough to dig out. Trogons have been observed landing on dead tree trunks and slapping the wood with their tails, presumably to test the firmness.

The nests of trogons are thought to usually be unlined. Between two and four eggs are laid in a nesting attempt. These are round and generally glossy white or lightly coloured (buff, grey, blue or green), although they get increasingly dirty during incubation. Both parents incubate the eggs (except in the case of the bare-cheeked trogon, where apparently the male takes no part), with the male taking one long incubation stint a day and the female incubating the rest of the time. Incubation seems to begin after the last egg is laid. The incubation period varies by species, usually lasting between 16–19 days. On hatching the chicks are altricial, blind and naked. The chicks acquire feathers rapidly in some of the montane species, in the case of the mountain trogon in a week, but more slowly in lowland species like the black-headed trogon, which may take twice as long. The nestling period varies by species and size, with smaller species generally taking 16 to 17 days to fledge, whereas larger species may take as long as 30 days, although 23–25 days is more typical.
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