Monday, April 19, 2010

Bird Photography Weekly #86


This is a truly spectacular bird that lives up to it's name. Their iridescent green head, chest and back, with the deep red of it's belly, contrasting with bright white undertail and yellow bill are an eye-popping treat in itself - and then the males have these tail streamers that can be up to 2 feet in length!  These members of the trogon family are found from southern Mexico to Panama, and are high on the wish list of any birder travelling in Central America.  Seeing these birds are certainly one of the highlights of my birding experience, and can honestly say that photos simply cannot capture the beauty of the Resplendent Quetzal. 
Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno


PS - as always click on the photos to see larger versions!



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8 comments:

MaineBirder said...

WOW, that is bird! Love the colors. Great photos Christopher!

Johnny Nutcase said...

wow! you got beautiful looks and photos of him! Awesome! (and a little jealous...that was one bird we missed in CR!). Great post!

Neil said...

What a beautiful bird great photos.

Mike said...

Truly, truly resplendent bird (and photos!)

Larry said...

Fantastic images of the Resplendent Quetzal Chris! I would love to see one of these birds in person. Beautiful.

Hilke Breder said...

Chris, you are so lucky to have seen this birds!! Amazing plumage, shows that birds, and assuming this is a male, espcially female birds have a finely tuned sense of beauty! Great shots!!

corey said...

You know, Christopher, I used to like you, I really did. But after seeing these pictures I think I have to change my mind.

Why?

Because this post contains my best quetzal photo.

http://10000birds.com/on-not-birding-a-cloud-forest.htm

Christopher said...

Thanks everyone for the great compliments.

@Corey Umm... sorry. Maybe a trip to Ecuador in December and getting good pics of some other spectacular bird will help.