Quetzal Watching

Although Costa Ricans don't worship the quetzal with the same fervor as pre-Columbian Guatemalans, the bird is most easily seen in Costa Rica, where it is protected in four national parks--Braulio Carrillo, Poás, Chirripó, La Amistad--and the Monteverde and Los Angeles cloud forest reserves. Everywhere throughout its 1,000-mile range (from southern Mexico to western Panama) it is endangered due to loss of its cloud-forest habitat. This is particularly true of the lower forests around 1,500 to 2,000 meters to which families of quetzals descend during breeding season (March-June), and where they seek dead and decaying trees in which to hollow out their nests. This is the best time to see narcissistic males showing off their tail plumes in undulating flight, or launching spiraling skyward flights which presage a plummeting dive with their tail feathers rippling behind, all part of the courtship ritual.

At other times, the wary birds aren't easily spotted. Their plumage offers excellent camouflage under the rainy forest canopy. They also sit motionless for long periods, with their vibrant red chests turned away from any suspected danger. If a quetzal knows you're close by and feels threatened, you may hear a harsh weec-weec warning call and see the male's flicking tail feathers betray his presence. The quetzal's territory spans a radius of approximately 300 meters, which the male proclaims each dawn through midmorning and again at dusk with a telltale melodious whistle--a hollow, high-pitched call of two notes, one ascending steeply, the other descending--repeated every eight to 10 minutes.

Nest holes (often hollowed out by woodpeckers) are generally about 30 feet from the ground. Within, the female generally lays two light-blue eggs, which take about 18 days to hatch. Both sexes share parental duties. By day, the male incubates the eggs while his two-foot-long tail feathers hang out of the nest. At night, the female takes over.

Although the quetzal eats insects, small frogs, and lizards, it enjoys a penchant for the fruit of the broad-leafed aguacatillo (a kind of miniature avocado in the laurel family), which depends on the bird to distribute seeds. The movement of quetzals follows the seasonal fruiting of different laurel species. Time your birdwatching visit, if possible, to coincide with the quetzals' rather meticulous feeding hours, which you can almost set your watch by. They're fascinating to watch feeding: an upward swoop for fruit is the bird's aerial signature.