NL·0763Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Priotelus temnurus
- Family
- Trogonidae
- Native to
- Endemic to Cuba, including Isla de la Juventud
- Habitat
- Tropical dry forest, Montane forest, Pine forest
On eBird ↗
Cuban Trogon
Live sightings near you, the range map, bar charts of when it is seen, and Macaulay Library photos and recordings.
Cuban trogon
Priotelus temnurus
Also calledTocororo (Spanish, Cuba) · Guatini (Taíno) · Trogon de Cuba (French)
Cuba's national bird, whose red belly, white chest and blue crown echo the colours of the Cuban flag. Its name tocororo imitates its repeated call.
The Cuban trogon or tocororo is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is endemic to Cuba, where it is also the national bird. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iSallies from a perch to pluck fruit and insects in hovering flight
- iiNests in old woodpecker holes and natural cavities
- iiiUnusual among trogons for its notched, ragged-edged tail feathers
In the field
Field marks
- aBlue-violet crown and bright green back
- bWhite throat and breast; bright red belly
- cLong tail with uniquely notched, flared feather tips; white spotting beneath
- dWings barred black and white
- Voice
- A repeated, hollow 'to-co-ro, to-co-ro', and a low 'cucuu'.
- Not to be confused with
- No other trogon occurs in Cuba; Hispaniolan Trogon lives only on Hispaniola.
- Where to see it
- Zapata Swamp (Ciénaga de Zapata), Viñales, Topes de Collantes and the Sierra Maestra.
- When
- Resident year-round
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Flowers, fruit and insects
- Habitat
- Shady forest of all types, from lowlands to mountains
- Size
- 25–28 cm
Like other trogons it sits motionless for long periods, making it easy to overlook until it calls.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Endemic to Cuba, including Isla de la Juventud
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
No plate in the Source Library names this exact species, so these show its closest relatives as the old naturalists drew them: same genus, or the same kind of animal. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Priotelus temnurus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Cuban tradition holds that the tocororo cannot survive in a cage — a symbol of a people's love of liberty, which helped make it the national bird.
Curiosity
Its genus name Priotelus comes from Greek for 'saw' and 'end', for the jagged tips of its tail feathers.
Kinship
Fact-checked: 1 correction made to this sheet. Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 20844.