Magnificent tropical oaks, with a female Resplendent Quetzal
Our stay for the last few days has been at the Savergre Hotel in the Province of San Jose. This high altitude region is above 2200m and the forests are lush and home to magnificent tropical oaks, some over 700 years old.
These forests are home to the brilliant Resplendent Quetzal, a bird deified by the Mayans and arguably the most beautiful bird in the Central Americas.
A bird of legends and art.
And our target bird!
Found, admired, photographed.
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A male in all his glory.
In the 1940s, Dr. Alexander Skutch wrote a life history of the Quetzal, based on long years of careful observation. He describes the Quetzal as follows:
The male is a supremely lovely bird; the most beautiful, all things considered, that I have ever seen. He owes his beauty to the intensity and arresting contrast of his coloration, the resplendent sheen and glitter of his plumage, the elegance of his ornamentation; the symmetry of his form, and the noble dignity of his carriage. His whole head and upper plumage, foreneck. and chest are an intense glittering green. His lower breast, belly, and under tail coverts are of the richest crimson.
The dark, central feathers of the tail are entirely concealed by the greatly elongated upper tail coverts, which are golden green with blue or violent iridescence, and have loose, soft barbs. The two median and longest of these coverts are longer than the entire body of the bird, and extend far beyond the tip of the tail, which is of normal length. Loose and slender, they cross each other above the end of the tail, and thence diverging gradually, form a long, gracefully curving train which hangs below the bird while he perches upright on a branch and ripple gaily behind him as he flies. The outer tail feathers are pure white and contrast with the crimson belly as he flies overhead. To complete the splendor of his attire, reflections of blue and violent play over the glittering metallic plumage of back and head, when viewed in favourable light.
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