Once considered sacred to ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures, resplendent quetzals often accompanied chiefs into battle, and priests wore the birds’ bright feathers during important ceremonies.
Today, many people enjoy eco-tours into the cloud forests of Costa Rica for the chance to glimpse one of these beauties which feature vibrant red underparts and iridescent green feathers that can change to blue-violet and greenish-gold depending on sunlight rays.
As the breeding season begins, the male grows a long train of blue-green feathers that he uses to attract a female in elaborate flight displays.
Once the male is accepted, the seasonally monogamous pair will build a nest in the cavity of a dead tree and alternately incubate a clutch of two eggs.
