Pavonine Quetzal

Bird-watching has many facets, from scientific to observational, from painting to photography, videography and even etymological! Our Pavonine Quetzal, whose name derives from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word quetzal meaning 'long green feather', is closely related to the Resplendent Quetzal, but its scientific name has nothing to do with it! Pavoninus in Latin means 'with a tail of a peacock', so Johann Baptist von Spix, the German explorer and zoologist (1781-1826) dubbed the magnificent quetzal in 1824. This quetzal is difficult to observe, and its black and bluish-green coloring may have been reminiscent of the blue peacock, or Pavo cristatus, to the biologists of the 19th century! Very close to the golden quetzal - they may even form a 'super-species' - the male of our Pavonine Quetzal has slightly arc-shaped beak which is characteristic of trogonids, its mandibles being red-orange at the base and yellow at the tip. Its eye with its thin white orbital ring has a dark brown iris while its crown is golden-green, slightly less intense than that of the golden quetzal. Its throat and chest are emerald green and the border between its red belly and its chest forms a crescent-shape. Its mantle and back are green, with black markings around the base of the feathers, while the lower back and the rump show a blue-turquoise reflection. The primary and secondary green coverts are long and vertical, partially covering the black remiges which is common to many trogonids, such as white-tipped cover feathers. Its lower rectrices are black, its upper rectrices are green and when the bird fans its tail, a bluish-green center and black external parts will be visible.The female has a pale red beak and the ends of both mandibles are tinted with a dark brown mark. The head is mostly brown, with very faint greenish-gold reflections, the parotids are brown-gray, the brown throat gradually turns green on the upper part of the chest, then goes back to brown; the belly is pinkish red, the color is slightly faded compared to the color of its mate. The vertical green coverts on the black remiges are shorter than those of the male and the white edgings remain visible, the primary remiges are long and seen from the back, they cover part of the uppertail. The lower rectrices are anthracite grayish white at the end and streaked with the same white on the outer edges. Juveniles look like their mother, the coverts are speckled with chamois spots, the remiges are rather light brown, the beak is black and does not yet have the coloration of the adults.