Quetzal and Avocados

Gallery: AvianPosted March 24, 2014187 views11 comments

One of the main attractions of my spring visits to Costa Rica is the resplendent quetzal, found in the central highlands. On this particular trip, we had several sightings of this beautiful species, mainly centered around a few fruiting avocado trees. The quetzals love the avocados, and they were reliably spotted on a couple of favorite perches over the course of a few days, fluttering back and forth to nab fruit from the trees.

Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 1600
1/400th
f/5.6

Max

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on March 24, 2014 at 12:11 PM

Max a fabulous looking bird, I wish you had posted a larger version.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on March 24, 2014 at 1:28 PM

A beautiful bird. The background nicely compliments the bird. It's a nice habitat shot, but I would have liked to see more of the bird.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on March 24, 2014 at 3:49 PM

Almost fairytale like shot - really appealing. Having the bird free in this kind if vegetation is great ! Congrats, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on March 24, 2014 at 5:35 PM

Sweet environmental shot of the Quetzal. The habitat is exactly what I've seen and photographed them in so this feels perfectly natural to me. Not an easy subject with that LONG tail. Nicely captured.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on March 24, 2014 at 7:41 PM

A beautiful bird and in the clear is all good. I just wish there were more of the bird and less of the habitat.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on March 24, 2014 at 8:59 PM

I would love to just have a chance to see this bird, let alone get this nice of an image. Fine image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on March 25, 2014 at 2:53 AM

What a superb setting Max

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on March 25, 2014 at 10:38 AM

A magnificent looking bird Max.
The habitat is interesting but I think also a bit overpowering. It would be great if the bird stood out a bit more.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 25, 2014 at 7:38 PM

A sweet habitat photo of this beautiful species Max. I look forward to getting another chance to photograph these guys in the future.

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Upjeet Singh on March 27, 2014 at 3:28 AM

What a beautiful bird Max, love the colors and you chose to capture it in its habitat really makes the image for me. Please post a larger version if you have one would like to see the close up of this bird

Registered on May 8, 2010, 50 Posts, 55 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 28, 2014 at 12:40 PM

Thanks everyone. It is quite difficult to get these guys out in the open. We were pretty fortunate in that regard on this trip, though the birds were further away than I would've liked and their favorite perch was far from ideal due to a fence line from one of the farms in the background. This was definitely the most "natural" open perch the birds chose while we were there.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments