Red-naped Trogon

Red-naped trogons are generally inactive outside of their regular feeding patterns. Because of this, birdwatchers and biologists have noted that “apart from their general beauty, they are notorious for their lack of other immediately engaging qualities”. Their lack of activity has been considered a defence against predation. As with other Trogonidae species, red-naped trogons have been reported to shift along branches to keep their dull coloured backs turned towards observers, while their heads, which can rotate at 180 degrees like owls, are turned to keep watch on any potential predators. They are preyed upon by hawks and predatory mammals.

The red-naped trogon is presumed to be a permanent resident or sedentary bird. Sedentary is “commonly used in the special sense of ‘non-migratory,’” and resident is defined as “remaining throughout the year in the area under reference”. At least 4,000 species of bird are regular migrants, which is approximately 40 percentage of the world's population of birds, however the red-napped trogon is not one of these. It does not migrate, but instead remains in the same location all year round. Red-naped trogons are confined to the Sundaic regions lowlands, also known as Sundaland, with a distribution size of 989,000 km². The Sundaic lowlands is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia which encompasses the Sunda shelf, Malay Peninsula of the Asian mainland, and the large islands of Borneo, Java and Sumatra, including their surrounding islands. The eastern boundary of the Sundaic region is the Wallace Line which separates the Indomalaya and Australasia ecotones. The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as rare in Thailand, fairly common in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, rather scarce in Sarawak and uncommon in Singapore, Indonesia, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. The current population trend shows a decline in the number of red-naped trogons at a moderately rapid rate, owing to habitat loss and degradation throughout its distribution range. Number of mature individuals = unknown Extreme population fluctuations = no Continuing decline of mature individuals = yes Population severely fragmented = no All individuals in one subpopulation = no Continuing decline in subpopulations = unknown Extreme population fluctuations in subpopulations = no

There are currently no targeted conservation actions for this species, however, conservation actions have been proposed to conduct ecological studies to improve the understanding of the red-naped trogon's habitat requirements. In particular, the studies would aim to determine the levels of tolerance of secondary habitats. Other conservation actions to be looked into are the improvement of management of protect areas within the species range, to increase the area of suitable habitat and the implement measures to ensure the protection of the suitable habitat from illegal activities.