Male Resplendent Quetzal Perched in San Gerardo Cloud Forest

A male Resplendent Quetzal sits upright on a moss-laden branch, emerald body and extraordinary paired tail coverts descending through the blue-green forest light at San Gerardo de Dota valley in Costa Rica. The Resplendent Quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala and an enduring Mesoamerican cultural emblem; adult males carry elongated upper-tail coverts over the true tail. The exposure of 1/25 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 8000 renders the stationary bird and fine plumage detail sharply against the softly separated background; the photograph was made in natural light without flash.