The male is crimson on the head, nape, and underparts, with a black throat and grey chest; the rest of his upperparts are cinnamon-coloured.

The species was first described for science by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1888, who named it for British explorer and collector John Whitehead.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature rates Whitehead's trogon as a near-threatened species.

English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe first described Whitehead's trogon for science in 1888, using a specimen collected on Mount Kinabalu, in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

[5] The species and common names honour the British explorer John Whitehead, who first collected the bird.

[nb 1][3][9] The male is crimson on the forehead, crown, nape, and sides of the head, with bare blue skin around the eyes.

[3][9] Whitehead's trogon is endemic to the island of Borneo, where it occurs in mountainous areas between 900 and 2,000 metres (3,000 and 6,600 ft) in elevation.

[12] A shy and unobtrusive bird, Whitehead's trogon is easy to overlook as it sits quietly in the upper storey of dense forest.

Nesting is known to occur in April, young birds have been collected in June, and family groups have been seen together in July.

[9] The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated Whitehead's trogon as a near-threatened species.

Habitat loss, both through logging and conversion to agricultural use, is occurring at lower elevations on some of mountains where it lives.