Resplendent Quetzal

Pharomachrus mocinno

Trogoniformes / Trogonidae · Cloud forests of Central America · first seen September 2023 · 15 sightings

Resplendent Quetzal hunting along a shoreline — An October morning at the edge of town.

Resplendent Quetzal calling from a reed stem — Midwinter, low sun.

I keep running into resplendent quetzals in the same spots every year, and every year I think I’ve worked them out. I haven’t.

Structure is the best clue at distance: in flight the resplendent quetzal has a particular proportion you start to recognize before any field mark resolves.

My images for this species are all made with available light. I don’t use fill flash in the field.

A local patch has produced this species on roughly one in three visits, which is probably more than I deserve.

It’s a species I’d happily spend an entire morning watching without ever raising the camera.