Resplendent quetzals are well known for their soft colorful plumage. Depending on the light, their feathers can shine in a variant of colors including green, cobalt, lime, yellow, to ultramarine. The long tail streamers of these birds can measure up to 100.5 cm (39.6 in) in length. Their green upper tail coverts hide their tails and in breeding males are particularly splendid, being longer than the rest of the body. Though quetzal plumages ...
appear green, they are actually brown due to the melanin pigment. Their iridescent feathers, which causes them to appear shiny and green like the canopy leaves, are actually a camouflage adaptation to hide within the canopy during rainy weather. Another interesting fact about the long tails of these beautiful birds is that when quetzals incubate their eggs, they look like a bunch of fern growing out of the nest hole as their long tail-covert feathers are folded forwards over the back and out of the hole.
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