Male Resplendent Quetzal Arriving at the Nest with a Berry

The male reaches the nest tree and clings vertically beside the cavity with a dark berry at his bill, green back and folded wings aligned with his pendant coverts at Paraiso Quetzal Lodge area 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. This nesting pair was caring for two chicks that had hatched two days before the visit, photographed from a fixed viewing platform about 30 metres away. The exposure of 1/1600 sec, f/4 and ISO 2500 renders the stationary bird and fine plumage detail sharply against the softly separated background; the photograph was made in natural light without flash.