It was formerly considered a subspecies of T. viridis, which is widespread in South America east of the Andes, but under the English name white-tailed trogon (a name now reserved for T. chionurus, leaving T. viridis as the green-backed trogon).

In the male the head and upper breast are dark blue (appears blackish in poor light), and the back is green, becoming bluer on the rump.

The female white-tailed trogon resembles the male, but has a grey back, head and breast, and rather indistinct black-and-white barring mainly to the inner webs of each tail feather (less on outer webs).

[5] The song of the white-tailed trogon consists of 15-20 very fast cow notes.

Their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits.