Focus Brazil

The Quetzal

Brazil consists of cloud forests, marshes, swamplands, arid plateaus and immense rainforests, and within this varied terrain live some 1,600 recorded bird species.

The Amazon Basin contains one-third of the planet's living species, and it is here that you can find Short-billed Leaftossers, Rufus-Necked Puffbirds, Hardy's Pygmy-Owl, the Black-Girdled Barbet, as well as the Quetzal.

The name comes from the Nahuatl word QUETZALLI and means large brilliant tail feather.

One variety, the Resplendent Quetzal, is often held to be the most beautiful bird in the Western Hemisphere as the male’s tail feathers can reach feet 60cm in length.

The Quetzal features heavily in Central and South American mythology, and Aztec royalty wore headdresses including plumes removed from the males and Guatemalans chose it as their national bird, and even named their monetary unit the quetzal.

Quetzals rely on wild avocados (which grow widely throughout tropical regions), and it is thought that the wild avocados are quite reliant on the Quetzal to disperse their seeds as they are the only bird large enough to and swallow the avocado fruits whole (including the seeds!)