Pharomachrus mocinno
Drawn from open occurrence records inside Monteverde, aggregated onto a 25 km grid.
Occurrence records measure where people looked and found something, which is not the same as where the animal is. This is a relative likelihood, not a probability.
Records exist for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. A quiet month can mean the animal was absent, or that nobody was looking.
The Aztecs and the Maya prized its feathers above gold, and it still gives Guatemala both its national bird and the name of its currency. The green is not pigment but structure, microscopic layers in the feather splitting light, which is why a bird that looked emerald on one branch turns deep blue-violet on the next. The male grows two uppertail coverts that trail well past half a metre, streaming behind him in flight and curling out of the nest hole while he sits. He is easy to walk past. Quetzals perch still and upright for long stretches, facing away, and the green back against wet leaves is close to perfect camouflage; most people find their first one because a guide heard the call, a soft rising and falling whistle, long before anyone saw the bird. Look for movement at the fruiting wild avocados in the first two hours of light.
Breeds in old woodpecker holes and rotten trunks; both parents incubate, the male's streamers curling out of the cavity like ribbon. Altitudinal migrant following fruit.
600mm or more, from cover, and let the bird come to the tree rather than walking it down. Overcast cloud-forest light suits the plumage better than sun, which blows out the scarlet breast.
Never play recordings during nesting season.