Which brilliantly colored bird is the national bird of Guatemala?

The resplendent quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala. Its brilliant green plumage, red breast, and exceptionally long tail coverts made it a powerful symbol in Mesoamerica.

The bird lives mainly in montane cloud forests from southern Mexico through Central America. It belongs to the trogon family and feeds mostly on fruit, especially wild avocados and other plants in the laurel family, though it also takes insects, frogs, lizards, and snails.

Quetzals were deeply important to Maya and Aztec cultures. Their feathers were associated with nobility, divinity, and freedom; rulers prized them, but the birds were generally captured, plucked, and released rather than killed. Guatemala’s currency, the quetzal, takes its name from the bird.

A common mix-up is confusing the resplendent quetzal with other colorful Central American birds, such as toucans and macaws. The national emblem shows the quetzal as a symbol of liberty, and habitat loss in cloud forests remains its major conservation concern.