Trogons

Diet and feeding

Trogons feed principally on insects, other arthropods, and fruit; to a lesser extent some small vertebrates such as lizards are taken. Among the insect prey taken one of the more important types are caterpillars; along with cuckoos, trogons are one of the few birds groups to regularly prey upon them. Some caterpillars are known to be poisonous to trogons though, like Arsenura armida. The extent to which each food type is taken varies depending on geography and species. The three African trogons are exclusively insectivorous, whereas the Asian and American genera consume varying amounts of fruit. Diet is somewhat correlated with size, with larger species feeding more on fruit and smaller species focusing on insects.