As wildlife and habitat have disappeared from the region, Cuba’s importance as an ecological bastion has steadily risen. As one scientist put it, Cuba is the “biological superpower” of the Caribbean. The island has the largest tracts of untouched rain forest, unspoiled reefs and intact wetlands in the Caribbean islands. Cuba also is home to many unique, or endemic, species, including the solenodon, a chubby insectivore that looks rather like a giant shrew, and the bee hummingbird, the world’s smallest bird, weighing less than a penny.

Tocororo bird: Scientific name

Trogon Temnurus, commonly known as Tocororo, belongs to the family of the Trogónidos: e.g Guatemalan Quetzal.

Tocororo bird: Habitat

The Tocororo bird can be found in mountainous regions in Cuba, mainly in Sierra Maestra mountain range, in the eastern province of Granma and Santiago de Cuba. It can also be seen in the highest parts of Sierra del Escambray, in Santi Spiritu province and with smaller frequency in Sierra de los Organos in Pinar del Rio. It cannot live in captivity. He is fed of wild fruits, mainly Aguacatillo. He nests in the holes of the tree trunks.

tocororo bird

The Tocororo bird is in danger of extinction.

Because his red, blue, and white colours, the same of the Cuban flag, he was chosen as national bird.