Male Resplendent Quetzal Looking Left from a Mossy Highland Branch

The perched male looks to the left from the moss-covered branch, his golden-green head in profile while long green coverts follow the curve of the bough 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 1/20 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 640 renders the stationary bird and fine plumage detail sharply against the softly separated background; the photograph was made in natural light without flash.