Laura Erickson’s For the Birds

This exquisite bird, unique among the world’s trogons for its scalloped tail feather edgings, is endemic to Cuba where it serves as the national bird. The only other species in the genus Priotelus, the Hispaniolan Trogon, has a more typical trogon tail.

Trogoniformes, the order including just one family, Trogonidae (trogons and quetzals), is unique in the entire class Aves for their “heterodactyl” toes. Like woodpeckers and other birds with “zygodactyl” feet, trogons have two toes facing forward and two backward. The difference is which toes face forward and backward. In zygodactyl feet, digits 2 and 3 face forward while 1 and 4 face backward. Owls and Osprey can rotate the outer toe (digit 4) to face forward or backward. In trogons, the only order with the heterodactyl arrangement, digits 3 and 4 face forward and 1 and 2 face backward.