The Story
I photographed this Golden-headed Quetzal (Pharomachrus auriceps) at La Florida, El Bosque de las Aves, in the Kilómetro 18 area near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in February 2020. It lives in moist mid-elevation forest from eastern Panama to northern Bolivia. It is 33 to 36 centimeters long, and its tail plumes add another 8 to 10 centimeters. It eats mostly fruit. It is usually solitary and quiet, but in the breeding season a male and female pair up and nest in a cavity in an old tree. Its call is a mournful, hawk-like whistle. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18 is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Golden-headed Quetzal (Pharomachrus auriceps) belongs to the family Trogonidae (Trogons) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2022), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List