[3] The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy recognize two subspecies of Surucua trogon, the nominate T. s. surrucura and T. s. aurantius.

BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats these two forms as separate species, the "southern" and "northern" Surucua trogons respectively.

The crown, neck, and breast are royal blue and the back a coppery green that transitions to turquoise-green on the upperside of the tail.

[6] The nominate subspecies of Surucua trogon is found from eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina east into Uruguay and in Brazil as far north as southeastern Tocantins.

T. s. aurantius has a more restricted range in east central and eastern Brazil from Bahia south to São Paulo state.

[6] The Surucua trogon's diet includes a wide variety of insects, both adults and larva, and also fruits and occasionally flowers.

The Surucua trogon's song is "an ascending sequence of moderately high-pitched, 14–20 full 'diu' or 'kwa' notes, which increase slightly in amplitude".