Resplendent Quetzal

The male's shimmering emerald upperparts, crimson breast, and green tail coverts streaming up to 65 cm beyond the body make the Resplendent Quetzal one of the most spectacular birds of the American tropics; females are duller, with grey breasts. It feeds largely on wild avocados and other laurel-family fruits, adding insects, lizards, and frogs, and serves as a key disperser of cloud forest trees. It is confined to montane cloud forests between about 1,200 and 3,000 metres from southern Mexico to western Panama, depending on old-growth stands with dead trees for nesting cavities. One to two eggs are incubated for 17 to 19 days, with young fledging between 23 and 31 days. Males sing melodious cooing phrases from high canopy perches. It is assessed as Near Threatened.