Trogon rufus, SULPHUREUS (SPIX, 1824)

Dickens, Jeremy Kenneth, Bitton, Pierre-Paul, Bravo, Gustavo A. & Silveira, Luís Fábio, 2021, Species limits, patterns of secondary contact and a new species in the Trogon rufus complex (Aves: Trogonidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 193, pp. 499-540 : 519-521

TROGON RUFUS SULPHUREUS (SPIX, 1824)

Proposed English name: Western black-throated trogon.

Trogon sulphureus Spix, 1824 , Av. Sp. Nov. Brasil. 1, p. 48 pl. 38 g.1 – Tabatinga, Brazil. – Aganus devillei Cabanis & Heine 1862 –1863, Mus. Hein., part IV, no. 1, p. 191, footnote: Santa Maria (= South of Pebas, Perú), Peru [based on Trogon meridionalis Deville & Des murs, 1849, (nec Swainson), Rev. Mag. Zool., (2), 1, p. 333]. – Pothinus sulphureus Cabanis & Heine, 1862 –63, Mus. Hein., part IV, no. 1, p. 184. – Trogon atricollis Pelzeln J, 1868 , Zur Orn. Bras., pp. 226– 331: Borba (right bank Rio Madeira), Marabitanas Cucuí (upper Rio Negro) and Barra do Rio Negro (= Manaus). – Trogon atricollis (Race A) Grant, 1892 , Cat. Birds. Brit. Mus., 17, pp. 455–458: Borba (Rio Madeira), Eastern Peru and Ecuador. – Trogon atricollis atricollis Richmond, 1893 , Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 16, p. 513. – Trogon atricollis Ihering, 1904 , Rev. Mus. Paul. VI, p. 444: Rio Juruá. – Trogon atricollis Hellmayr, 1906 , Abhandl. K. Bayer. akad. Wissens. II KI., XXII, p. 596 (in reference to sulphureus Spix ) – Trogon atricollis atricollis Hellmayr, 1906 , Novit. Zool., 13, p. 380, Prata (near Belém). – Trogon atricollis Ihering & Ihering, 1907 , Part. Catal. Fauna Brasil., I, Aves , p. 158, from Rio Grande do Sul to Central America. – Trogon rufus rufus Hellmayr, 1910 , Novit. Zool., 17, p. 387, Borba and Humayta (= Humaita), Rio Madeira. – Trogonurus curucui curucui Ridgway, 1911 , Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. 50 (5), p. 764. – Trogon rufus Snethlage, 1914 , Part. Bol. Mus. Goeldi. 8, p. 208, Rio Guamá (Sta. Maria de S. Miguel), Rio Tapajos (Villa Braga), Rio Purús, Rio Jamundá (Faro). – Trogonurus curucui curucui Cory, 1919 , Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser., 13, p. 325. – Trogonurus rufus rufus Stone, 1928 , Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 80, p. 158. – Trogonurus rufus devillei Stone, 1928 , Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 80, p. 158 (in reference to Aganus devillei Cabanis & Heine 1862 –63). – Trogonurus rufus devillei Zimmer, 1930 , Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser., 17, p. 295, Puerto Bermudez, Peru (in reference to Aganus devillei Cabanis & Heine 1863 ). – Trogonurus rufus rufus Pinto 1938 . Rev. Mus. Paul. 22, p. 289. – Trogon curucui sulphureus Griscom & Greenway, 1941 , Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 88, pp. 180–181. – Trogon rufus sulphureus Todd, 1943 , Proc. Biol.Soc. Wash. 56, p. 11. Hyutanahan, Tonantins and Manacapurú, Brazil. – Trogon rufus devillei Gyldenstolpe, 1945 , Kungl. Sv. Vet. Akad. Handl., 22 (3), pp. 85–87 (not in reference to sulphureus Spix ): Igarapé Grande, Rio Juruá. – Trogon rufus sulphureus Peters, 1945 , Checklist of Birds of the World, Vol. 5, p. 157. – Trogon rufus rufus Friedman, 1948 , Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 97, p. 425, Salto do Huá and Rio Maturacá (upper Rio Negro, Brazil) and Braço Cassiquiare plus Cerro Japacana (upper Orinoco, Venezuela). – Trogon rufus sulphureus Zimmer, 1948 , American Museum Novitates (1380), pp. 26–31. – Trogon rufus sulphureus Pinto, 1950 , Papeíes Avilsos de Zoologia, 9(9), pp. 89–136. – Trogon rufus sulphureus Gyldenstolpe, 1951 , Ark. F. Zool., Kungl. Sv. Vet. Akad. Handl., 22 (3), pp. 85–87, female from Igarapé Castanha, Amazonas, Brazil. [He also refers to his earlier identification of Trogon rufus devillei ( Gyldenstolpe, 1945) from the Rio Juruá as erroneous renaming it T. r. sulphureus .] – Trogon rufus sulphureus Pinto, 1978 , Novo Catal. das Aves do Brasil, 1a Parte, p. 218, Western Amazonia, including S Venezuela (Cassiquaire), E Ecuador, NE Peru and Brazil west of the Negro and Madeira rivers.

Diagnosis: Yellow to greenish-yellow eye-ring diagnostic against T. r. rufus , T. chrysochloros and T. tenellus . Usually smaller with less serrated bill than T. chrysochloros . Males: The coppery-green to reddish uppertail with a subterminal band of greener coloration and breast band absence are diagnostic against T. tenellus , T. cupreicauda and T. r. rufus . Compared to T. r. rufus and T. r. amazonicus , the undertail barring is less dense with broader black bars. Furthermore, the wing panel has lower barring density, broader black and white bars and higher percentage area black than T. r. rufus , whilst the percentage area black is distinctly higher, and black bars broader in T. r. amazonicus , which also usually has a lower uppertail hue. Compared to T. chrysochloros , the undertail and wing panel barring have much broader white bars and lower barring densities. From T. tenellus , they may be further distinguished by having broader black bars and higher percentage area black on the wing panel. From T. cupreicauda , they differ by usually possessing a warmer uppertail hue (> 619 nm), absent breast band, and broader black bars and higher percentage areas black on the undertail and wing panel. Females: Not completely separable from other Amazonian subspecies. Usually diagnosable from northern specimens of T. r. rufus by their generally brighter, more yellow-brown head and more saturated uppertail. The undertail and wing-panel baring are less dense with broader black and light brown bars than T. chrysochloros and usually also T. r. rufus and T. r. amazonicus . The head is generally also less yellow, more saturated and darker, mantle less yellow, and chest less yellow and more saturated compared to T. chrysochloros . Mantle and chest often less yellow than T. r. amazonicus . Compared to T. cupreicauda , they lack the extensive brown undertail wash, have a more saturated uppertail colour, generally more saturated and yellower brown head, and brighter and more saturated chest. Also, the undertail barring is less dense with generally broader black and white bars and wing panel barring denser. Compared to T. tenellus , the wing panel has broader black bars, a higher percentage area black and sometimes lower density, whilst the undertail has broader white bars, lower barring density and sometimes lower percentage area black. Furthermore, the head is not as yellow, saturated or bright and the mantle less yellow, whilst the chest is usually brighter and yellower and uppertail more saturated.

Song: Fewer notes per phrase, slower pace, longer note and pause durations, lower note frequencies and narrower note bandwidths than T.chrysochloros . Lower note frequencies than T. tenellus . Fewer notes and longer note durations than T. cupreicauda . Not safely separable from other Amazonian subspecies, although generally has higher note frequencies, particularly of the first note, giving it a more ‘introductory’ quality compared to T. r. rufus . From T. r. amazonicus , it differs by having generally fewer notes per phrase and faster pace.

Distribution and habitat: Terra firme forests of western Amazonia, west of the Branco-Negro and Madeira Rivers and south of the Tepuis, in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, extreme NE Bolivia and Brazil. Rare in SE Peru and NE Bolivia. Up to an elevation of ~ 1200 m. An intergradation zone with T. r. amazonicus stretches along both banks of the Madeira River.

Type material: Lectotype: ZSM-B35 (adult male), Tabatinga (‘ in sylvis Tabatingae ’), Rio Solimões , Brazil, collected by Spix. Female syntype long known to be a female T. ramonianus Gmelin, 1788 .

Description: Although relatively small, this is the only taxon that occasionally overlaps in size and bill serration with T. chrysochloros but is generally larger than T. tenellus , T. cupreicauda and T. r. amazonicus . Males: Uppertail notably coppery but varying from deep reddish-copper to slightly coppery-green. Subterminal band of greener coloration present. Head and mantle coppery green. Rump usually more golden-green. Chest usually more blue-green. Belly yellow. Breast band absent but occasionally present in individuals from the base of the Andes. Undertail with moderate barring density and black bar widths, relatively broad white bars and moderately low percentage area black. The wing-panel barring has the broadest black bars of all taxa, relatively broad white bars, low barring density and high percentage area black. Moderate terminal tailband width. Females: Head generally yellower, less saturated and lighter Dark Brown to Dark Yellowish Brown. Mantle, relatively less yellow and poorly to moderately saturated Dark Yellowish Brown to Dark Olive Brown. Chest yellower, more saturated and relatively light Olive Brown to Dark Yellowish Brown. Belly yellow. Uppertail generally more saturated Dark Reddish Brown. Brown wash on undertail usually only edging to basal black patch or less often restricted to base of outer rectrices (not visible in natural position). Undertail barring with broad black and white bars, low density and low to relatively high percentage area black. Wing panel with moderate to broad black and light brown bars, moderate to low barring density and generally high percentage area black. Bareparts: In both sexes, eyering yellow or greenish-yellow with occasional records of individuals with green or blue-grey eye-rings from the base of the Andes. Tarsi olive throughout most of range with a minority grey, particularly along the base of the Andes, where a single specimen with blue-grey tarsi was also recorded.

Song: Few notes per phrase, moderately slow pace, relatively long introductory and loudsong note durations, moderate duration pause following the introductory note, introductory note with moderately low peak and high frequencies and low low-frequency, loudsong notes with moderately low peak and high frequencies and low low-frequency. Narrow introductory note and loudsong note bandwidths. Similar to T. r. rufus but with a higher first note, giving it a more ‘introductory’ quality. Ten percent of songs contained two-note phrases.