---
title: "Resplendent Quetzal"
description: "Pharomachrus mocinno — Birds. The resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a small bird found in Central America and southern Mexico that lives in tropical forests, particularly montane cloud forests."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/resplendent-quetzal
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Resplendent Quetzal

> Pharomachrus mocinno — Birds. The resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a small bird found in Central America and southern Mexico that lives in tropical forests, particularly montane cloud forests.

- Scientific name: *Pharomachrus mocinno*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest), `jungle` (Jungle)
- iNaturalist observations: 4735
- Wikidata: [Q459267](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q459267)
- iNaturalist taxon: [20856](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/20856)

## Names

- en: Resplendent Quetzal
- de: Quetzal
- es: Quetzal mesoamericano
- fr: Quetzal resplendissant
- nl: Quetzal
- pt: Quetzal-resplandecente
- pl: Kwezal herbowy

## Countries with the most observations

CR (3296), PA (428), GT (231), MX (191), HN (169), NI (23), SV (10)

## Summary

The resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a small bird found in Central America and southern Mexico that lives in tropical forests, particularly montane cloud forests. They are part of the family Trogonidae and have two recognized subspecies, P. m. mocinno and P. m. costaricensis. Like other quetzals, the resplendent is mostly omnivorous; its diet mainly consists of fruits of plants in the laurel family, Lauraceae, but it occasionally also preys on insects, lizards, frogs and snails.
The species is well known for its colorful and complex plumage that differs substantially between sexes. Males have iridescent…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resplendent_quetzal

## Photo

![Resplendent Quetzal](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/resplendent-quetzal/medium.jpg)

Photo: Dario Taraborelli · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103586732

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/resplendent-quetzal?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).