Harpactes fasciatus (Pennant, 1769)

Species Introduction

Like most other trogons, Harpactes fasciatus (commonly known as the Malabar trogon) are brightly coloured and sexually dimorphic.

Male Plumage: Head and Torso

The male has a slaty black head and breast, with a white border to the black bib that separates it from the crimson underside. The back ranges from olive-brown to chestnut.

Male Wing Features

The wing coverts are black with fine white vermiculations.

Male Tail Structure

This species has 12 graduated tail feathers. The central tail feathers are chestnut with a black tip; the second and third pairs from the middle have more black than chestnut, and the outer three pairs have long white tips.

Female Plumage: Head and Underside

The female lacks the male’s contrasting black and crimson colouring. She has only a slightly darker head and breast that shades into the olive brown of the back, and the male’s crimson underside is replaced by ochre.

Shared Soft Part Features

In both sexes, the beak and the skin around the eye are bluish. The iris is dark brown and the feet are pale bluish.

Nasal and Foot Morphology

The nostrils are covered by tufts of filoplumes. The feet are heterodactyl, a feature unique to trogons: digits I and II face backward, while digits III and IV point forward.

Foot Morphology Comparison

In most birds, I, II and III face forward while IV faces back, and in zygodactyly, II and III face forward while I and IV face backwards.

Subspecies Classification Overview

Several populations of this species have been named as subspecies.

Subspecies legerli

The central Indian subspecies legerli, named by Walter Norman Koelz based on a single specimen collected at the foot of Mahendra Giri in Orissa, is not always recognized. It is described as slightly larger, longer-winged and brighter than malabaricus, the subspecies found in the Western Ghats.

Nominate Subspecies

The nominate race, found in the central wet zone of Sri Lanka, is smaller and has brighter upperparts.

Perching Behavior

In terms of behaviour and ecology, these birds usually perch still, especially when alarmed, and will sometimes cling laterally to branches. When calling, they sometimes raise and lower their tail.

Vocalizations

The call is a series of guttural or purring notes, and the male’s song is a series of percussive kyau calls.

Breeding Season Timing

The breeding season is mainly February to May, before the monsoons, in India, and March to June in Sri Lanka.

Common Name Etymology (Hindi)

When sitting still, they appear hunched. The Hindi name used by hunters, kafni churi, refers to this hunched, neckless appearance, which looks like a fakir wearing a kafni robe.

Regional Common Names (South India)

It is called karna in Marathi, kakarne hakki in Kannada, and theekakka in Kerala, a name that literally means "fire-crow".

Regional Common Name (Sri Lanka)

In Sinhala, the name used in Sri Lanka is loha wannichcha.

Diet Composition

Malabar trogons feed exclusively on insects; fruits have not been noted in their diet unlike New World trogons, though seeds have been reported in the diet of Sri Lankan specimens.

Foraging Flock Associations

In the forests of Sri Lanka, they are often found in mixed-species foraging flocks, where they may sometimes be subject to kleptoparasitism by drongos.

Foraging Height

A study in Kerala found that they foraged mainly at heights of 5 to 10 m, with females tending to forage lower within the canopy.

Bark Foraging Behavior

When foraging on bark, they prop themselves using their tail like woodpeckers, especially on decaying tree stumps.

Ground Foraging Behavior

They sometimes descend to the ground to search for insects under leaf litter.

Aerial Foraging Behavior

They will sometimes fly to try to flush prey, then hover to pick up the prey. They may also hang upside down to reach prey on vertical tree surfaces.

Prey Handling Behavior

Prey are often mashed or struck on a branch between the mandibles before being eaten, or before being fed to young.

Additional Vocalizations

The contact call is a series of about five low-intensity que notes; these notes are higher intensity during territorial fights. The alarm call is a churrrr, and a similar call is also made prior to roosting.

Movement Patterns

Although their flight is fast, they are reluctant to fly. In the Nilgiri hills, they are altitudinal migrants, found in higher reaches only during summer.

Nest Site Selection

The nest is built in rotting trees or stumps, which are easy to carve and pulverize using their bills.

Nest Excavation

The male and female take turns excavating the nest with their bills, and excavation may take about a month.

Nest Structure

The nest floor is made of wood powder, and no extra lining is added.

Clutch Size

A study in Kerala found two eggs to be the normal clutch, though older sources suggest the typical clutch size is three eggs.

Incubation Process

The eggs are laid two days apart, and incubated by both males and females, with females usually incubating at night. The incubation period is about 19 days.

Nestling Provisioning

Hatchlings are fed mainly caterpillars in the initial period, and later are provided with bugs, flies and orthopterans.

Nest Sanitation

The parents do not remove the nestlings’ excreta from the nest.

Post-Fledging Care

Adults continue to feed fledged juveniles for nearly 5 to 6 months.

Mating System

The species is socially monogamous, with pair bonds that last more than one breeding season.

Bathing Behavior

Sri Lankan birds have been observed plunging into water from an overhanging branch to bathe.

Parasite Record

A species of endoparasitic cestode, Triaenorhina burti, has been described from Harpactes fasciatus.