The pavonine quetzal (Pharomachrus pavoninus ) is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae, the trogons. It is also known at the peacock trogon, red-billed train bearer, or viuda pico rojo in Spanish. The pavonine quetzal lives in the Neotropics, more specifically in the northern region of the Amazon basin, spreading from Colombia to Bolivia. The most notable characteristics helpful in identifying this bird are its plumage, red beak (male; females have grey bills), and its distribution - it is the only quetzal occupying the lowland rainforest east of the Andes.
Like many other quetzals, pavonine quetzals are fairly brilliantly coloured, exhibiting some sexual dichromatism, with the females being noticeable duller than the males. Overall, they resemble most closely the golden-headed quetzal (Pharomachrus auriceps ).
The pavonine quetzal resides year-round in the Amazon basin. Its range crosses the borders of Brazil and Venezuela, southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, and northern Bolivia. More specifically, it is found in the states of Amazonas and Bolívar in Venezuela, Amazonas and Roraima in Brazil, Beni and Pando in Bolivia, to name a few. In terms of geographical features, the pavonine quetzal seems to avoid the Tapajós River in the southeast, the Orinoco River in the north and the Andes in the West. Overall, the bulk of their distribution resides within 10°N and 15°S.
The pavonine quetzal is the only quetzal found in the lowland rain forests of South America east of the Andes. Specifically, its preferred habitat seems to be the terra firme forests found in the Amazon basin and surrounding areas. Within the forest, it appears relatively restricted to the lower and middle understory of the forest ranging anywhere between 250m and 1200m elevation. Other sources place this quetzal at lower elevations, ranging from sea level to 700m. Regardless, they remain highly arboreal, only occasionally coming down to the forest floor.
In comparison, they fill a similar ecological role as golden-headed quetzals, who occupy the montane forests to the north and west.
The pavonine quetzal remains a poorly studied species, meaning that much is unknown about the species in terms of behaviour. A few studies include this quetzal in bird inventories, but rarely go more in depth about the ecology and behaviour of the bird.
Like most quetzals, P. pavoninus is primarily a frugivore. A study looking at the stomach contents of nine specimens of this bird found that eight birds had solely eaten various fruits, whereas the other one had consumed a mixture of fruits and arthropods. Other researchers observed similar behaviour, classifying them as frugivores. In 2007, a short report documented the feeding behaviour of a couple and their newborn. About half the juvenile's diet consisted of tree frogs shortly after hatching, while the other half was reserved for variously shaped, sized and coloured fruit. Specifically, the tree frogs seemed to belong to two genera only: Hyla and Phyllomedusa, while the fruits came mostly from Lauraceae (near half), followed by Euterpe precatoria (Arecaceae), Iryanthera sp. (Myristicaceae), Pouteria sp. (Sapotaceae), Guatteria and Unonopsis sp. (Annonaceae), and Tetragastris sp. (Burseraceae) in decreasing order of importance. Over the few weeks it took to fledge the youngling, the parents increased the proportion of fruit in the neonate's diet.
There is a sufficient gap in knowledge about the breeding behaviour of pavonine quetzals (and many other trogons), especially concerning visual and vocal displays. As a general trend, however, it seems that breeding involves courtship chasing, some combination of perched and aerial visual displays, some reciprocated vocal displays. These birds also appear to be monogamous, and work together to excavate the nest. They choose nesting sites in rotting trees, old woodpecker holes, termataria, or vespiaries, and provide little to no lining. Reported suspected nests range from 4 - 9m above ground level. The only confirmed reporting of pavonine quetzal nesting describes the nest as a hollow, mostly bare cavity deep enough to hide both adults, with circular to wedge shaped entrance. The report also accounts the clutch contained two eggs, which is typical of this group. The eggs were pale blue, with a few light brown speckles. The eggs weighed between 8.5g and 13.5g, and measured 27.6 - 28.1mm by 31.5 - 32.4mm.
As for distribution of the roles, both sexes participated in incubation. The males seem to incubate during the day, from around 10AM until sunset (near 6PM), while the females incubate overnight and in the early morning. Incubation lasts at least 14–17 days. Once the eggs have hatched, adult occupation of the nest decreases rapidly, where mostly the male makes food deliveries for the young, though both parents attend the young. The nestlings are altricial, and depend heavily on the parents for food, even after they have fledged. Nestling lasts around 21 days, and fledging continue to be dependant for up to two months. Until then, the parents feed them on the ground or low branches. During this period, chicks are most vulnerable to predators, such as raptors, snakes and squirrels.
Their plumage takes a few weeks to fully grow out, starting out as a mixture of down-like feathers, pin feathers, and short tawny feathers, and eventually growing out their full juvenile plumage. Initially, they look fairly different than their adult counterparts, with noticeable colour differences in feathers and other tissues. For males, we suspect that young males take up to three years to grow their full length plumage.
