Considered by many to be the most beautiful bird in the western hemisphere, the Quetzal was sacred in both the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Despite its legendary history, this beautiful and graceful bird is in danger of extinction due to destruction of its habitat in the cloud forests of Central America and illegal trophy hunting. Quetzals often prefer to kill themselves rather than remain in captivity and are considered a symbol of freedom. Although recently a captive breeding program has succeeded. Photographing a Quetzal is very difficult since they are found in dense cloud forests and their tail is usually partially obstructed. Also, good sunlight (rare in the cloud forest) is required to see their incredible irridescent plumage   (Hi-Res). The best strategy is to stake out a wild avocado tree which is the Quetzal's favorite food. We found such a tree and were very fortunate to see the Quetzal in good light. Here you can see how the Resplendent Quetzal lights up in direct sunlight as he sits near the wild avocados that make up a large part of his diet. He eats these whole and its amazing to see such a large bird glow!   (Lo-Res)   (Hi-Res). In this picture, the Quetzal looks more like the winged Serpent worshipped by the Mayans:   (Lo-Res)   (Hi-Res). A closeup shot shows that he is amazing even without the fancy tail   (Click). The female is also very pretty and actually looks like many of the male Quetzals found in South America   (Click).

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