It’s the national bird of some nearby countries, but Panama’s is the harpy eagle. But still, the resplendent quetzal is… RESPLENDENT. This picture of a male, distributed through Wikimedia, was taken in 2019 by Charles J. Sharp on Cerro Totuma in Chiriqui’s Tierras Altas district, at the Mount Totumas Cloud Forest resort.
The bird is the word
a note by Eric Jackson about someone else’s photo
The Trashmen said it – it MUST be true.
This bird, Pharomachrus mocinno in scientific Latin, is part of the larger trogon family – trogonidae – that’s more widely distributed around Panama. It has been seen in the highlands of Chiriqui, Bocas del Toro and Veraguas provinces and adjacent indigenous comarcas. Western Panama is at the southern edge of the resplendent quetzal’s range, which extends up to southern Mexico. Its population is declining and its habitats are threatened. The numbers become harder to fathom because of the birds’ habits – they will go quiet and hide if they think that people are around. The species likes to nest at the edges of or around clearings in cloud forests.
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