Eared Trogonimmigrant or visitor?

The story of the appearance of Euptilotis neoxenusin the mountains of southern Arizona

Dale A. Zimmerman

Innes, in the South Fork of Cave Creek rITHOUTavian occurrenceDOUBTTHE MOSTin the extraordinary Southwest Canyon in the Chiricahuas,saw and heard an during 1977was the appearancein Arizona's unfamiliar large that looked like a Ch•ricahuaMountains of Euptilotisneoxenus, . She did not see it well. Nevertheless, the Eared Trogon, heretofore known only her report at the American Museum's South- from the mountains of northwestern Mexico. west Research Station promptedRuth Morse Even there, few ornithologistshave seen the to mention that three days earlier, in the speciesin life. Duringthe pastdecade or so, South Fork, she too had observed a trogon w•th better roads penetrating the remote "that squealed." To Richard Taylor, a local S•erra Madre, and more accommodations Forest Service employee who had been attractive to tourists, small numbers of avid studying the canyon's Elegant or Coppery- b•rdwatchers began to visit Durango and tailed for some time, this called for S•naloa in search of this and other endemics. investigation. He had never heard Trogon Stall,only a scanthalf-dozen of my dedicated elegans utter notes answeringthis descrip- b•rding friends have found the bird, and I tion. On October 23 he and Vincent Roth m•ssed it on each of my visits. It is a little- identified the moot bird as a male Eared known, low-density ,fully deserving Trogon. The following day, they, Barbara the term rare. At least one record exists from Roth, Sally and Walter Spofford and Bert near Colonia Garcia in Chihuahua, only 95 and Millie Schaughencymade a concerted malessouth of the international boundary (R. effort to document its presence. All saw the R•dgway, of North andMiddle America, bird well, and they secured tape recordings U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 50, Part 5, 1911.). and photographs. Farther west, near the Chihuahua-Sonora A few days later the news was on most of hne, J.T. Marshall, Jr. (Birds of Pine-Oak the country's rare bird alerts, and hopeful, Woodland in Southern Arizona and Adjacent eager birders were flying and driving in from Mexico, Pacific Coast Avifauna 32, 1957), all points of the compass.Sally Spoffordtele- foundit asfar northas the Upper Rio Gavil•.n phoned the information to me from Portal, and the Arch Valley in the Sierra Madre. The and I'm certain there was no more excited a latter site is about 135 airline miles southeast recipient of the news than I. (Having had of the Chiricahuas. Although these localities field experience with 932 of the 1000birds on he not far away, probably no one ever seri- the Mexican list over the past three decades, ously considered this scarce bird a likely most of the few remaininglandbirds are diffi- candidate for occurrence in the United States. cult to find.) To have one of my two "most- On the morning of October 18, 1977, Kim wanted" Mexican species a mere two hours

Volume32, Number 2 135 away in our own country was difficult to headed, rather stocky bird, built more like a believe. female than one of the smaller trogons.In profile, his lower back and rump projected outward to an extreme degree. ONGwereBEFORE in the carDAYBREAK, en route myto Cavewife Creek.and I Even when we arrived,people were scattered E WASEXCEEDINGLY VOCIFEROUS. Each along two milesof trail, largely silent, ears flight, except those shortones to snatch and eyes straining. Few birds were in evi- a madrone berry, was accompaniedby a loud dence. Mexican Jayscalled occasionally, an cac-ac-ac-ac. Upon alighting he produced Arizona Woodpeckerrattled, and at intervals the squeal,or squeal-chuck,invariably with a we heard the chatter of Bridled Titmice. We pronounced pump of his handsometail; he were better prepared than most birders, gave this call repeatedly. At intervals a knowingfrom Ted Parker'stape recordings wholly different sound was uttered--a series the vocalizationsof nestingEared Trogons in of more melodioustremolos in a minor key, Durango, andwe had alsoheard a tape made initially very soft but rapidly increasingin of the Chiricahuabird two daysearlier. But it volume and becoming sufficientlyloud to be did us little good. Although someonefound audible at 200 meters:eeep eeepEEEP EEEP an Elegant Trogonfar up the canyon,a full EEEP. It was somewhatraptor-like, bringing day's work by over 50 experiencedpersons to mind the insistentfood call of a young d•sclosedno trace of Euptilotis.Disappoint- Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus). Walter ment was great. Further, there was Bill Spofford later told me it reminded him of a Roe's disquietingreport of the EaredTrogon nestlingPeregrine's begging call. This "song- being pursuedby a Sharp-shinnedHawk on call" was not accompaniedby tail-pumping the precedingafternoon. After recording all three vocalizations, I Then three days later Sally phonedagain. played back a bit of his voice and to the song- The bird was back! Our limbs still feelingthe call he immediately respondedby flying high effects of the precedingweekend's repeated in my direction. He then perched some 30 treks up and down the canyon, we arrived at meters above ground in a tall cypresswhere South Fork Campgroundearly on November he repeated the call several times. Not 12 prepared for extensive hiking. But we wanting to risk driving him away I refrained hardly had gone two hundred paces when from further experimentation after a second that distinctive, loud upslurred squeal-- try with the recorder producedan identical vagttely reminiscent of a Great-tailed result. A poor whistled imitation also Grackle's (Cassidix mexicanus)but with a prompted the bird to fly nearer and to repeat brief terminal 'chuck' -- announced our bird. his call. Seconds later it flew from an Arizona The trogon' s eye-ringwas merely gray, not cypress,cackling loudly and flashingits white red as depicted in the Peterson-Chalifguide ventral tail surface, distinctly calling to (A Field Guide to Mexican Birds, Houghton mind a ResplendentQuetzal ( Mifflin, New York, 1973). Nor was the bill rnoctnno)--probably a closer relative of truly black; it was instead gray and very Euptilotis than of any other Mexican trogon. pale--almost blue-gray--at the base of the At least two inches longer than an Elegant mandible. The bird's iris was black-looking, Trogon and with longer wings than I had the inside of its mouth deep orange. Once, expected, the Eared was impressivelylarge near at hand, as he thrust his head forward to overhead.Its ampletail waswidespread, and call, his slim, almost filamentous ear-tufts as it swooped into a madrone tree the blue showed momentarily. Most of the time they iridescence again recalled my first quetzal were invisible, flattenedagainst the head. In over a Chiapas cloud forest years ago, proper light his back was vividly green and appearing as a red, white and blue bird with this continued around in front to meet the no hint of green anywhere. Similarly, no bright geranium red of the lower breast and green was visible at first in the backlighted belly. From above, in all lights, the tail was Eared Trogon, viewed as he was againstthe shining blue. The head, however, seemedto sky Perched, he impressedme as a small- largely lack iridescence, and I assumedthe

136 AmericanBirds, March 1978 bird to be in subadult plumage. Satisfied with numerous views, detailed notes and a reel of good tape, we were back in Silver City by noon of the same day. I con- tinued to give much thought to the trogon, but suppressedthe desire to spendmore time along Cave Creek in deference to other duties. Then a week later Sally was again on the telephone. Would I believe two Eared Trogons? David Wharton had seen the second bird, a female, on November 16, and Dr. Charles McMoran saw them both the following day. Despite the reports of these reliable observers, the presenceof two birds seemed nearly incredible, so with Allan Zim- merman I was on the South Fork Trail again early on November 19. We found the Chiri- cahuas manufacturing their own weather once more. Dense cloud obscured the higher Female (sub-adult?)Eared Trogon, South Fork, peaks and spilled mistily into the various Cave Creek Canyon, Nov. 26, 1977. Photo/ canyons. Patches of snow showed through Richard Taylor. the high trees above us. It was violently their food in warmer weather, were windy, and we feared the trogons would be largely securedon the wing. Noteworthy was silenced. Surely any notes uttered could the trogon's abrupt descentfrom a branch• scarcely be heard above the roar of wind just as ff it suddenlyfell4efore levellingout down the canyon, the accompanyingnoise of and darting to a fruit cluster. swaying conifers and the veritable clatter of Before we left the Chiricahuas that day, I big dry sycamore leaves falling by the hun- told Walter Spofford that the male trogon we dreds on all sides. viewed appeareddifferent in certain respects from the one I describedin detail in my notes UCKILY,BARRY ZIMMER was up the trail a week earlier. There obviously were two and by good fortune he had seen both trogons in the vicinity; could there be three? trogons minutes earlier. Though largely Spofford, too, had wondered about this silent, what we assumed to be the male called because of near-simultaneousreports of a occasionally and between gusts we tracked male in separate localities. However, the him down. To be sure, a femme with slaty birds regularly covered a mile or more of the head and gray-brown breast accompanied canyon bottom once or twice each day, and him, perching nearby and following each they were known to move rapidly. I never- time he flew. When separated, the two theless remained suspicious. remained in contact with the song-call, and On November 28, Rick Taylor informed even when perched near one another both me that he'd definitely seen a third bird--a birds uttered a "whisper" version of this green-breastedmale but with this glittering vocalization. color speckled with brown, as was the red After feeding awhile, the two trogons immediately below. The next day I spoke retired to an oak thicket away from the trail, with the Spoffordswho by then suspected remaining almost motionless and quiet four trogons to be present. November 30 except for infrequent whispered tremolos, found my wife and me in the canyon once during the next 40 minutes. Then they again. The morningwas clear and calm, and returned to the madtones where they fed on by 0900we hadthree birds calling together: a the plump berry-like fruits which matchedin splendid,fully adultmale consorting with the hue the red of their under-parts.These fruits female--the two sideby side--plusa second, of Arbutus arizonica provided the bulk of the less brightly colored, male. None of these trogons' November diet, and like much of was Rick Taylor's mottled (and apparently

Volume 32, Number 2 137 immature) bird which reportedlyalso had of Eared Trogons late in the year shouldwe less white in the tail, so we knew there to be not reasonablyexpect other records, perhaps four altogether. The female, as well as both from the mountains of southern New Mexico males we observed,regularly employed the which lie directly between the Chiricahuas squeal and song-call. I could not be certain if and the northernmost known Mexican she cackled in flight like the males. Her stations for the bird? We know that Trogon narrow bare eye-ring was pale gray as were elegans moves across southwesternNew those of the other two birds, and her bill was Mexico occasionally. However, there is dark gray becomingpale blue-graybasally. much less suitable habitat for any trogon As in the male, this light color emphasized there than in Arizona, and New Mexico has the very broad base when viewed from the comparatively few serious birders in the front, whereas in profile the bill seemed field. The Animas Mountains may well small. At least two of the trogons showed harbor an Eared Trogon or two, but accessto their "ears" and these were revealed in the range is now restrictedand entry difficult. several photographs.Always they projected Furthermore, there are very few roads into horizontallyat the backof the head,and they the Pelonci!1oRange astride the New Mexico- were visibleonly againstthe sky. In contrast Arizona line. Seekers of Eared Trogons east to some recent field guide illustrations, the of the Chiricahuas probably would have to wings were not short like those of other backpack into the most likely canyons.And trogons; their tips extended almost to the to the West? The legendary Huachuas have white portionof the tail, and they usually seemedas likely for this speciesas the Chiri- were below the body. I was repeatedly cahuas, perhaps more so. After the second impressedwith the bignessof both tail and bird was known to be inhabitingCave Creek, wings in flight. Often, when at rest, the bird's we began to think it just a question of time head was pulled back and the chest thrust and of which precisespot. We had not longto forward. In profile this combinedwith the wait; Betty Jones discovered a male Eared exaggeratedprojection of the rump to make Trogon in Ramsey Canyon in the Huachucas the bird appearquite grotesque. on the first of December. Others may turn up, but I suspectthe Cave Creek populationwill remain the largestand best known. This canyon is perhaps unique in its considerablelength, and in the extent of its particularcombination of xeric vegetation on the canyon walls subtendedby pine-oak woodsand finally the well-developedriparian forest below. We know next to nothing of the Eared Trogon's precise ecologicalniche, but these are good-sized, far-ranging birds probably requiring fairly large canyons and]or extensive tracts of pine-oak and madrone woodland; there may be some seasonalvariation in their preferred habitat. Cave Creek Canyon has seemed quite Female Eared Trogon,showing the "hump-backed" acceptable thus far, but insufficient food stance posture. Note the "ear" showing.Photo/ supply will prevent them from wintering Ralph A. Fisher, Jr. there. However, they may remain some- T HASSEEMED MOST UNLIKELY thatfour Eared where in the Chiricahuas. It is anyone's Trogons wandered separately out of guess as to how they would fare if still Chihuahua to converge on one small Arizona present when the usual numbersof Elegant canyon. Naturally there hasbeen speculation Trogons return to breed. Although Trogon on the possibility of a breeding pair elegans normally leaves Arizona in winter, somewhere in the Chiricahuas during 1977. occasional individuals remain, subsisting Had there been a real northward movement largely on fruit. One has been sharingCave

138 AmericanBirds, March 1978 Creek Canyon with his larger cared relatives, Sorely needed is some sort of management and Taylor has seen it drive the male and plan with native wildlife receiving top female Euptilotis away from a food-tree on priority.Bird-watching visitors to Cave Creek one occasion.The competitionfactor may be Canyon may in the near future have to important.In Mexico, the two speciesseem operate under a degree of restriction and to overlap very little, although Marshall inconvenience to which they are unaccus- found them together in one Chihuahuan tomed, but it will be well worth the limita- locality. Farther south, in the Durangan and tions if there exists a chance to retain these Slnaloan high country, Fared and Mountain magnificent trogons--both species--as part Trogons (T. mexicanus) are sympatric. Cer- of our avifauna. tainly throughoutmuch of their area of over- The Eared Trogons' visitation may be a lap the widespread mexicanusis a fairly one-time occurrence. On the other hand, we common bird, the Fared Trogon rare and do not know to what extent various biologi- local. cal factors or habitat destruction in Mexico may stimulate an exodus of additional indivi- HECHIRICAHUA'S EARED TROGONS easily duals or pairs to come. Footholdsmade not could disappearbefore spring. We have long ago by the Thick-billed Kingbird had no report of the speciessince December (Tyrannus crassirostris) and Five-striped 2, 1977. Nevertheless, a breeding attempt Sparrow (Aimophila quinquestriata) for may not be altogetherunlikely, and stepsto example, have resulted in regular United provide protectionof the birdsfrom interfer- Statesbreeding populations of these species, ence may be initiated should nesting take which were not even mentioned in the 1957 place in Cave Creek Canyon, We know edition of the A.O.U. Check-List. The Fared Elegant Trogons to be particularly suscepti- Trogon may now be joining the ranks of the ble to even slightdisturbance when breeding. Black-capped Gnatcatcher (Polioptila nigri- (One photographer last year, although ceps), Rufous-cappedWarbler (Basileuterus working briefly and at a respectabledistance, rufifrons) and others which appear to be caused a pair to desert their nest with young. establishinga beachheadin our borderlands I am aware of three records of nest desertion from similar causes and Taylor knows of Acknowledgements ten ) Should Euptilotis attempt to nest here I wish to thank Betty Jones, Kenn Kauf- we do not want it to fail because of human man, Gale Monson, Bill Principe and Rick activity. Taylor who have supplied me with useful The number of visitors to see the Fared information, and particularly the Spoffords Trogons reached 800 in little more than a who have aided me in various ways. Monson month. People camefrom nearly every state and the Spoffordsalso read the manuscript. and at least three foreign countries.Over one John P. O'Neill of the Louisiana State Uni- weekend nearly 100 per day were on the versity Museum of Zoology very kindly lent narrow South Fork Trail. Although me an Eared Trogon specimenon a moment's practically all were quiet, consideratem•d notice. Photographsof the birds taken by well-behaved, it would seem obvious that no Alexander J. Clay, Ralph Fisher and Walter nesting trogon could tolerate so much human Spofford supplementedmy own and were of visitation, and visitor pressurewill build as considerablevalue in executingthe painting. spring approaches.Even without the lure of George Miksch Suttonpersuaded me to paint Eared Trogons, Cave Creek's campgrounds the trogon while its impression remained are filled--mostly with bird-seekers--as fresh in my mind. I express my gratitude to early as April. For the purpose of seeing him for advice in connection with this Elegant Trogons, people now journey to endeavor and for the innumerable benefits southeasternArizona in impressivenumbers resultingfrom my associationwith him over --enough to total an estimated 25,000 the years. observer-days per year according to Taylor--and most of the visitors descend -- Department of Biological Science, upon this one canyon in the Chiricahuas. W.N. Mex. Univ., Silver City, N.M. 88061

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