Pharomachrus mocinno

The Resplendent Quetzal is probably the must see bird in Costa Rica so I was a bit surprised when I asked my group what they wanted to see on our October trip no one mentioned the quetzal. In fact since there was so little interest in the bird I briefly considered not trying for it. Thankfully that idea didn’t stay in my mind for long. When we arrived in the mountains that the quetzal calls home, there were several beautiful photos of Resplendent Quetzals on the walls of the lodge. Immediately everyone in the group started asking if we would see that bird and I smiled and told them that was the whole reason we were up there. The next morning we headed out with great excitement in search of our top target bird and about an hour later we had a pair in a tree eating avocados. Since this was such a special bird I tried to stand back and let my group go enjoy the birds without me getting in their way. I have to say I really enjoyed hearing the excited whispers and seeing the beaming smiles during our time with the birds. Of course I couldn’t resist taking some photos of my own. While I think it is safe to say that the others got better photos, I did manage a couple that I liked. I think this one is the favorite of mine.

For more photos of this species please check out:
www.pbase.com/dadas115/resplendent_quetzal

www.texastargetbirds.com

_MG_5778a-web