Resplendent Quetzal

Identificazione

The resplendent quetzal is the largest trogon. It is 36 to 40 cm (14–16 in) long; in the nominate subspecies, the tail streamers measure between 31 cm (12 in) and 100.5 cm (39.6 in), with the median being 75 cm (30 in) for males. The nominate subspecies weighs about 210 g (7.4 oz), while the subspecies costaricensis is slightly smaller than the nominate race, with shorter wings and bills. The tail plumes are shorter and narrower, measuring between 32 cm (13 in) and 86 cm (34 in), with the median being 63 cm (25 in).<p>Resplendent quetzals have a green body (showing iridescence from green-gold to blue-violet) and a red lower breast and belly. Depending on the light, quetzal feathers can shine in a variant of colors: from green, cobalt, lime, and yellow to ultramarine. Their green upper tail coverts hide their tails and are particularly splendid in breeding males, being longer than the rest of the body. Though the quetzal's plumage appears green, they are actually brown due to the pigment melanin. The primary wing coverts are also unusually long and have a fringed appearance. The male has a helmet-like crest. The bill, which is partly covered by green filamentous feathers, is yellow in mature males and grey in females. Their iridescent feathers, which cause them to appear shiny and green like the canopy leaves, are a camouflage adaptation to hide within the canopy during rainy weather. The quetzal's skin is very thin and easily torn, so it has evolved thick plumage to protect its skin. It has large eyes, adapted to see in the dim light of the forest. Their song is an array of full-toned, mellow, slurred notes in plain patterns and is often remarkably melodious: keow, kowee, keow, k'loo, keeloo.

Tassonomia

The resplendent quetzal was first described by Mexican naturalist Pablo de La Llave in 1832. It is one of five species of the genus Pharomachrus, commonly known as quetzals. Quetzal is usually specifically used to refer to the resplendent, but it typically applies to all members of the genera Pharomachrus and Euptilotis. Some scholars label the crested quetzal as a very close relative of the resplendent, and either suggest the crested quetzal to be a subspecies of the resplendent or the two form a superspecies. The quetzal clade is thought to have spread out from where it emerged in the Andes, the resplendent quetzal being the youngest species. The name of the genus, Pharomachrus, refers to the physical characteristics of the bird, with pharos meaning 'mantle' and makros meaning 'long' in Ancient Greek. The word 'quetzal' came from Nahuatl (Aztec), where quetzalli (from the root quetza, meaning 'stand') means 'tall upstanding plume' and then 'quetzal tail feather'; from that, Nahuatl quetzaltotōtl means 'quetzal-feather bird' and thus 'quetzal'.<p>Two subspecies are recognized, P. m. mocinno and P. m. costaricensis, although there is an ongoing debate about whether costaricensis should be recognized as a distinct species. The specific epithet mocinno is a Latinization of the name of the biologist José Mariano M. Mociño, a mentor of his.[note 1]

Nome scientifico

Pharomachrus mocinno

Autorità

de la Llave, 1832

Ordine

Trogoniformes

Famiglia

Trogonidi

Genere

Pharomachrus

Areale e habitat

This species inhabits amidst lush vegetation, in specially moist rainforests at high elevations (900–3,200 m (3,000–10,500 ft)).[note 2][1] They populate trees that make up the canopy and subcanopy of the rainforest, though they can also be found in ravines and cliffs.[1] It prefers to live in decaying trees, stumps, and abandoned woodpecker hollows.[1] The vivid colors of the quetzal are disguised by the rainforest.[15] The resplendent quetzal can be found from southern Mexico (southernmost Oaxaca and Chiapas) to western Panama (Chiriquí).[18] The ranges of the two subspecies differ: P. m. mocinno is found in southern Mexico, northern El Salvador, and northwestern Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras, while P. m. costaricensis is found in Costa Rica and western Panama.[13] The geographical isolation between the two subspecies is caused by the Nicaraguan depression, a 50 km (31 mi) wide, 600 km (370 mi) long bottomland that contains the two largest lakes in Central America, Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua, and the deficiency of the breeding habitats in regions adjoining to.[18] The quetzal migrates from its breeding areas in the lower montane rainforest to the pre-montane rainforest on the Pacific slopes for three to four months (July–October), after which they move across the continental divide to the Atlantic slopes.[19]<p>Quetzal's abundance in its mating areas is correlated with the total number of fruiting species, although the correlation between quetzal abundance and the number of fruiting Lauraceae species is only marginal.[20]

Migrazione

Migrazione verticale

Comportamento

Comportamento migratorio: Migrazione verticale.

Conservazione

Tendenza della popolazione: in diminuzione.

Tendenza della popolazione

in diminuzione