Resplendant Quetzal

Resplendant Quetzal

Resplendant Quetzal

It was an exhilarating moment. I was with a friend down in Monte Verde, Costa Rica on a quest to spot the resplendant quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno. I still get chills remembering him flying through a clearing in which we were looking for a three-wattled bellbird . It seemed as though his tail trailed behind him for miles! We tracked him to the nest where he and his mate had a clutch of young. What a thrilling experience!

"... we made our way to many a beautious, lonesome, glorious spot, across the swift cold torrent and the black ravine, along the face of the yielding precipice, and up and down the aching mountain, through dense shrubberies and sombre forests. Through forests where the Quezal - the bird of white and crimson, of green and golden plumage - the sacred and imperial bird of Mexico, whose slender palm-like feathers, often four feet in length, none save the Emperors were permitted to wear - like a meteor, colored with the rainbow, flashes through the foliage of the loftiest cedar."
Meagher, 1860

One of the largest members of the Trogon family, the Resplendant Quetzal is amond the most beautiful and elegant birds of the Western Hemisphere. Its range extends from southern Mexico down to western Panama. It is an inhabitant of forested mountains, generally found at elevations greater than 1000 m. They feed on small fruits, insects, and occasionally on small vertebrates such as lizards or frogs. Only the male of the species has the exaggerated tail.

Steele, 1876

The monetary unit of Guatemala is the quetzal, and its coins and currency depict this beautiful animal.

References:

Meagher, T.F. 1860. Holidays in Costa Rica. Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. XX. Harper and Brothers, Publishers, New York.
Steele, J.D. 1876. Fourteen Weeks in Zoology. A.S. Barnes & Company, New York.
Stiles, F.G., and A.F. Skutch. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, NY.

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