Ward's trogon ranges from Bhutan and
Arunachal in North Eastern India and into northern and eastern Myanmar and southern China (in western
Yunnan). A disjunct population was reported to be common in
Fan Si Pan in Vietnam in 1939, but there are no modern records of that species there. The species is generally montane, usually occurring between but occasionally coming down as low as . There is some evidence that it moves to lower altitudes in winter. The preferred habitat of Ward's trogon is subtropical hill forest dominated by
Quercus and
Castanopis and temperate broadleaf evergreen forest. Within these forests it is found in the
understory, undergrowth and within bamboo stands. The species is not a common one, although it can be locally common in some locations. It was treated as vulnerable by the
IUCN in the 1990s, but secure populations have been found in Bhutan, so it is presently listed as near-threatened. ==Behaviour==