Quetzal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Quetzal (disambiguation).
Quetzals
Resplendent Quetzal
Resplendent Quetzal
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Trogoniformes
Family: Trogonidae
Genus: Pharomachrus
de la Llave. 1832
Euptilotis
Gould, 1858
Species

P. antisianus
P. auriceps
P. fulgidus
P. mocinno
P. pavoninus
E. neoxenus

Quetzals are strikingly colored birds of the trogon family (Trogonidae) found in tropical regions of the Americas.

The word "quetzal" was originally used for just the Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, the famous long-tailed quetzal of Central America, which is the national bird of Guatemala. It still often refers to that bird specifically but now also names all the species of the genera Pharomachrus and Euptilotis. The six quetzal species and their English common names are:

Euptilotis neoxenus is related to Pharomachrus and is called the Eared Quetzal by some authorities, such as the American Ornithologists' Union, but the Eared Trogon by others.

[edit] Etymology or word origin

The name "quetzal" is from Nahuatl quetzalli, "large brilliant tail feather" (American Heritage Dictionary) or "tail coverts of the quetzal" (Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary), from the Nahuatl root quetz = "stand up" used to refer to an upstanding plume of feathers.

Pharomachrus is from ancient Greek pharos, "mantle", and makros, "long", referring to the wing and tail coverts of the Resplendent Quetzal. (The second h is unexplained.)

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[edit] External links