In 3rd grade I wrote an essay on the Resplendent Quetzal. At the time I thought it was a mythical creature that the Mayans made up. This morning, I confirmed for 8 year old Heidi that Resplendent Quetzals are in fact real. A guide took us to an area with a known nest and we were excited to find 3 more individuals feeding in the native avocado tree - so we got FIVE quetzals, 3 males with long tails and 2 females. We were treated to the nesting pair taking turns going into the nest. When the male is in the nest, his long feathers stick out. We were a fair distance away from the nest, the birds were fast and silent, and the sun wasn’t fully up yet, so my pictures are only to prove I SAW QUETZALS!!! The perfect ending to an awesome birding trip.
A few quetzal facts:
- Resplendent Quetzals are one of the only animals that can eat the native avocados - they are 90% seed. They are eaten whole, then the bird regurgitates the seed. The avocados are about the size of a pecan.
- The birds are generally only active at sunrise, so to see them you have to know where they are feeding and arrive at dawn.
- They nest in old woodpecker and owl cavities in dead trees.
- The male only has the long feathers - which are actually not tail feathers, just rump feathers - during mating season Jan - May.
- Costa Rica has the largest population of Resplendent Quetzals, but they can be found from southern Mexico to Northern Panama at high elevations.
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| male only his way back to the nest |
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| male going in to the nest |
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| female going into the nest - note the different head shape |
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| male |
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male peaking out of the nest, note his two long
feathers sticking out above his head |
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| we weren’t very close |
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the male climbs in head first, but his two long
feathers don’t go all the way in, they bend and
always remain poking out of the hole
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See the feathers sticking out? Very convenient for
bird watchers to know if the male is on the nest! |
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