Surucua Trogon

The nominate subspecies T. s. surrucura is 26 to 28 cm (10 to 11 in) long and weighs 56.3 to 78 g (2.0 to 2.8 oz). The male has a blackish face and throat with an orange ring around the eye. The crown, neck, and breast are royal blue and the back a coppery green that transitions to turquoise-green on the upperside of the tail. The folded wing has fine vermiculation that looks gray at a distance. The belly is pinkish red and the flanks gray. The underside of the tail is white with a black bar across the end. The female is mostly gray with the red of the belly beginning lower. Instead of the orange ring around the eye there are small white spots before and after it. The underside of the tail has a black and white pattern. T. s. aurantius is about 28 cm (11 in) long. The male differs from the nominate by having a yellow eye ring and an orange belly. The female's belly is yellowish white to orange-yellow.

The nominate subspecies of Surucua trogon is found from eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina east into Uruguay and in Brazil as far north as southeastern Tocantins. T. s. aurantius has a more restricted range in east central and eastern Brazil from Bahia south to São Paulo state. They inhabit the mid levels of primary and well-developed secondary forest and semideciduous woodland. T. s. aurantius often associates with bamboo. T. s. surrucura occurs as high as 1,150 m (3,800 ft) in Bahia, 1,550 m (5,100 ft) in Minas Gerais, and higher still in Rio de Janeiro state. T. s. aurantius occurs up to about 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

The Surucua trogon's diet includes a wide variety of insects, both adults and larva, and also fruits and occasionally flowers. It sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks.