? Resplendent Quetzal
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Trogoniformes Family: Trogonidae Genus: Pharomachrus De la Llave, 1832 Species: P. mocinno
Binomial name
Pharomachrus mocinno (De la Llave, 1832) Ref: ITIS 553589

For other uses, see Resplendent Quetzal (disambiguation).

The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a spectacular bird of the trogon family. It is found from southern Mexico to western Panama (unlike the other quetzals, which are found in South America and eastern Panama). There are two subspecies, P. m. mocinno and P. m. costaricensis, the Costa Rican Resplendent Quetzal. This quetzal plays an important role in Mesoamerican myth. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1280x960, 251 KB) Summary Resplendent Quetzal, Savegre, Costa Rica, my image Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Many - see section below. ... Genera Apaloderma Euptilotis Harpactes Pharomachrus Priotelus Trogon Ref: ITIS 178094 2002-10-06 The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes. ... Genera Apaloderma Euptilotis Harpactes Pharomachrus Priotelus Trogon Ref: ITIS 178094 2002-10-06 The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes. ... Species Ref: ITIS 553589 Quetzals are beautifully colored birds of the trogon family found in tropical regions of the Central Americas. ... Dr. Pablo de la Llave (1773–1833) was a Mexican Catholic priest, politician, and naturalist. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Resplendent Quetzal can refer to: The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), a spectacular bird of the trogon family. ... Genera Apaloderma Euptilotis Harpactes Pharomachrus Priotelus Trogon Ref: ITIS 178094 2002-10-06 The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes. ... Species Ref: ITIS 553589 Quetzals are beautifully colored birds of the trogon family found in tropical regions of the Central Americas. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ...

This species is 36 cm (14 in) long, plus up to 64 cm (25 in) of tail streamer for the male, and weighs 210 g (7 oz).

Resplendent Quetzals have a green body (showing iridescence from green-gold to blue-violet) and red breast. Their green upper tail coverts hide their tails and in breeding males are particularly splendid, being longer than the rest of the body. The wing coverts are also unusually long and give a fringed appearance. The male has a helmet-like crest.

The "song" is a treble syllable described as kyow, etc., often in pairs, which may be repeated monotonously. Quetzals have other unmusical calls as well.

They have a mixed diet, consuming, for example, insects, fruit (especially of the laurel family), and frogs. Their habitat is mountain forests. They lay two pale blue eggs in a nest placed in a hole which they carve in a rotten tree. A tree in such an advanced stage of decomposition is susceptible to weather damage, and the availability of suitable trees may limit the quetzal population. Genera Many; see text The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. ...

When a quetzal is sitting on its eggs in the hole, its long tail feathers are folded forwards over its back and out of the hole.

Myth and legend

The bird plays a prominent role in the region's Pre-Columbian mythology and in modern legend. Ancient Mesoamerican kings and high priests wore headdresses of quetzal feathers, connecting them to one of their pagan gods, Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl was the creator god and god of wind, often depicted with grey hair. In several Mesoamerican languages, the term for quetzal can also mean precious, sacred or erected. The term Pre-Columbian is used to refer to the cultures of the New World in the era before significant European influence. ... Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ... Statue of Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl (feathered snake or plumed serpent; in Nahuatl: Ketsalkoatl; in Spanish: Quetzalcóatl) is the Nahuatl name for the Feathered-Serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerica, one of the main gods of many Mexican and northern Central American civilizations and also the name given to some Toltec rulers...

Until recently, it was thought that the Resplendent Quetzal could not be bred or held for any long time in captivity, and indeed it was noted for usually killing itself soon after being captured or caged. For this reason it is a traditional symbol of liberty. However, a zoo in Mexico has kept this species since 1992, and in 2004 successful breeding in captivity was announced (Orellana, 2004). Mohandas K. Gandhi - Freedom can be achieved through inner sovereignty. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Resplendent Quetzal is Guatemala's national bird, and an image of it is on the flag and the national seal of that country. It is also the name of the local currency (abbreviation GTQ).

The bird is of great relevance to Guatemalan culture, being a character in the widely popular legend of the local hero Tecún Umán, a prince and warrior of the Quiché (a Mayan tribe) at the time of the Spanish conquest. This quetzal was his nahual (spirit guide). The Kiche (or Quiché in Spanish spelling), are a Native American people, part of the Maya ethnic group. ... Spanish colonization of the Americas began with the arrival in the Americas of Christopher Columbus in 1492. ... In Aztec mythology, a Nahual was a sort of guardian angel that manifested itself in the form of an animal. ...

The tribe repelled several attacks from the Spanish army even when outmatched in weaponry (guns, armor and cavalry against spears and arrows).

Legend has it that on the day the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado fought against Tecún Umán, there was a quetzal flying overhead. On the first strike Tecún Umán, on foot, managed to disable Pedro de Alvarado's horse. Alvarado was then given another horse and on the second strike ran through Tecún Umán's chest with a spear. Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras (Badajoz, c. ...

The quetzal flew down and landed on Tecún Umán, dipping its chest in the warrior prince's blood. It is there that the bird acquired its distinctive red chest feathers.^[1]

Whether or not these events actually took place and to what extent is debatable, but it is true that the Mayans fought fiercely for their land and freedom during the conquest.

One Guatemalan legend claims that the quetzal used to sing beautifully before the Spanish conquest, but has been silent ever since — but will sing once again when the land is truly free.

Etymology

The epithet mocinno is Llave's Latinization of the name of the biologist J. M. Mociño, a mentor of his. (It is sometimes spelled mocino, but "ñ" was formerly spelled "nn" in Spanish, so the spelling with "nn" is justified and in any case now official.^{[2], [3]}) José Mariano Mociño Suárez Lozada (1757–1820) was a biologist of New Spain in Middle America. ...

The word "quetzal" came from Nahuatl, where quetzal (from the root quetz = "stand") meant "tall upstanding plume" and then "quetzal tail feather"; from that quetzaltotōtl means "quetzal-feather bird" and thus "quetzal".^{[citation needed]} Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. ... The root is the primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. ...

External images

• http://www.cayaya-birding.com/slideshow/quetzal.jpg
• http://www.dimijianimages.com/CostaRica-page3/quetzal-close.jpg male quetzal looking out of its hole
• http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/images/resplendent-quetzal.jpg
• http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/J/Kevin.A.Jaeger-1/images/The%20Quetzal%20@%20monteverde.jpg
• http://www.innerquest.com/images/Resplendent%20Quetzal%201.jpg
• http://www.panama-pictures.com/Panama-images/ecologia%20aves%20quetzal.jpg

See also

• Quetzaltenango

Buildings flanking the Central Park Square in Quetzaltenango Building flanking the Central Park Square in Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango is the second most populous city of Guatemala, after Guatemala City, and is the capital of Quetzaltenango Department. ...

References

• The Biogeography of the Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), a student project by Paul Pribor, 1999

• Claudia Orellana (2004). "Quetzals Bred in Captivity in Chiapas". Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2 (7): 345. (A Resplendent Quetzal chick hatched at the Miguel Álvarez del Toro Zoo, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico, and reached the age of six weeks at the time of the report. A short excerpt is visible on a Google search page.)
• Steve N. G. Howell and Sophie Webb (1994). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-1985-4012-4.
• Williamson, Sheri L., and P. R. Colston (2003). “Trogons.”, In Christopher Perrins (Ed.) Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds, 362–363, Firefly Books. ISBN 1-5529-7777-3.

Tuxtla Gutiérrez is the capital city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. ... Chiapas is a state in the southeast of Mexico. ... Professor Christopher Miles Chris Perrins, FRS is a British biologist. ...

External links

ADW: Pharomachrus mocinno: Information

• Mangoverde.com For images of four quetzal species, select "Trogons".
• 14 December 2004, Nature: Mystery of 'chirping' pyramid decoded Discussion of a theory that a Mayan pyramid makes echoes of handclaps that resemble quetzal vocalizations.
  • ocasa.org: An archaeological study of chirped echo from the Mayan pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza, with wav files of a quetzal and of "two Quetzal bird chirps (recorded in a rain forest) followed by two chirped echoes stimulated by a handclaps at the pyramid" (AV)
• Resplendent Quetzal videos on the Internet Bird Collection