Male Resplendent Quetzal Banking Toward the Nest Tree

A male banks toward the trunk with a caterpillar in his bill, black primaries splayed and two long coverts bending into an S-shaped wake 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 1/3200 sec, f/4 and ISO 1600 freezes the decisive body position and separates the principal wing and tail feathers while retaining only fine traces of motion at the fastest edges; the photograph was made in natural light without flash.