Wildlifeof Costa Rica
Resplendent Quetzal
Trogons & Quetzals
Photo: Ariannis Pitti · CC BY 4.0
Pharomachrus mocinno
Basic stats
Diet
Mostly fruit, especially wild avocados and other members of the laurel family; occasionally insects, lizards, frogs and snails
Habitat
Wet montane and cloud forest, canopy and sub-canopy, at about 900–3,200m
Range
Southern Mexico to western Panama; the subspecies costaricensis lives in Costa Rica and western Panama
Clutch size
1–3 eggs
Incubation period
17–19 days (both parents take turns)
Size
36–40cm, excluding the male's tail streamers (about 32–86cm in the Costa Rican form)
Weight
About 200g (AVONET, Tobias et al. 2022)
The resplendent quetzal is the largest trogon and one of the most sought-after birds in the Americas. The male has a shimmering green body whose colour shifts from green-gold to blue-violet in different light, a red lower breast and belly, black inner wings, a white undertail and a helmet-like crest. Long plume-like upper tail coverts trail far behind the body, shorter and narrower in the Costa Rican form than in the nominate race. Females are duller, with a grey lower breast, belly and bill, a bronze-green head and a shorter tail (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quetzals nest in holes in decaying trees or old woodpecker holes. Males incubate by day and females by night, and the eggs hatch in 17–19 days. The species moves with the seasons: after breeding in lower montane forest (March to August, varying with place), birds move to the Pacific slopes of Costa Rica for three to four months (July to October) and then cross the continental divide to the Atlantic slopes (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is the national bird of Guatemala and is tied to the Aztec and Maya serpent god Quetzalcoatl in Mesoamerican mythology. On this guide it is a target species of Braulio Carrillo, Monteverde, Poas, Tapanti, the Savegre Valley and Chirripo.
Quick answers
- What does the Resplendent Quetzal eat?
- Mostly fruit, especially wild avocados and other members of the laurel family; occasionally insects, lizards, frogs and snails
- What habitat does the Resplendent Quetzal live in?
- Wet montane and cloud forest, canopy and sub-canopy, at about 900–3,200m
- Where is the Resplendent Quetzal found?
- Southern Mexico to western Panama; the subspecies costaricensis lives in Costa Rica and western Panama
- How many eggs does the Resplendent Quetzal lay?
- 1–3 eggs
- How long are the eggs of the Resplendent Quetzal incubated?
- 17–19 days (both parents take turns)
- How big is the Resplendent Quetzal?
- 36–40cm, excluding the male's tail streamers (about 32–86cm in the Costa Rican form)
- How much does the Resplendent Quetzal weigh?
- About 200g (AVONET, Tobias et al. 2022)