One of the first to arrive in the Savegre River valley, at the foot of Cerro de Muerte, was Efraín Chacón. He did so in 1954, looking for a place to settle. Considered by many to be one of the pioneers of ecotourism in Costa Rica, he started by renting out three rooms and offering food and coffee. The first visitors were fishermen, who were attracted by the trout and visited the Savegre River. This was in the seventies, when the valley was already accessible by vehicle.Things changed suddenly when two researchers from Harvard University went to Costa Rica to collect orchids for a study, and Efraín acted as their guide; they stayed for about four days.Regarding the orchids found in that still unknown valley in the highlands of Costa Rica, they published an article accompanied by a photo of some quetzals. This was the first news of the existence of these birds in San Gerardo. This wonderful coincidence led ornithologists and naturalists from all over to arrive in the Savegre River valley in search of the prized bird. Over time, the three rooms eventually became the Hotel Savegre, one of the most reputable and well-known accommodations in San Gerardo de Dota.Another pioneer in San Gerardo is Doña Miriam, known for the home-cooked food she serves in her small restaurant, such as casado and grilled river trout fillet; and also for the delicious coffee she prepares, which is of local origin. After nearly fifty years in the valley, Doña Miriam defines herself as a lover of birds and nature; in her yard, she has set up feeders that are visited by some of the most characteristic bird species of the cloud forests. When we stop at her restaurant for lunch, she tells us that sometimes a quetzal also arrives, like Manolito, a trusting specimen that used to come a few years ago when she whistled to him.
A bird that is a symbol of life, fertility and abundance
In search of the quetzal, the sacred bird of the cloud forest of Costa Rica
This is a story about bird watching and it begins, as usual, before dawn. The objective is none other than to observe the resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), one of the most beautiful birds on the planet and the most famous of the trogons, a family of birds that inhabits both the equatorial forests of the New World and those of the Old World. To find it, we have traveled to a small village surrounded by cloud forest and named San Gerardo de Dota, in the highlands of Costa Rica.
Located in front of a large tree, we await the bird's visit. The plan is to catch it early in the morning, when it eats breakfast, although it is also usually quite active towards the evening. The tree we have chosen is known in the region by the popular name of aguacatillo. Under this generic name, different trees of the laurel family or Lauraceae are grouped, which produce fruits rich in fats, very necessary for these birds. This family of trees is widely distributed and includes well-known species such as avocado or cinnamon. Some studies mention that there is a co-evolution between the trees and the quetzal, associating the periods of abundance and fruiting of the former with the altitudinal displacements of the latter. Furthermore, quetzals play an important role as seed dispersal agents, especially outside the breeding season, where they can travel up to three kilometers a day in search of food.
The quetzal usually swallows whole between two and five fruits depending on their size. Once swallowed, the esophagus is responsible for separating the pulp from the seed in a process that can last between fifteen and twenty minutes – which is why quetzals remain perched on the same branch almost without moving – to finally regurgitate the seed.
As beautiful as it is reserved
The male quetzal has a head and chest of iridescent green color, a bright red abdomen and a black and white tail where some very long green feathers stand out, which in the mating season can reach ninety centimeters in length; the female does not have these long feathers and generally shows a less vibrant plumage.
It nests in cavities of soft wood trunks, which it can work with its small beak, or it takes advantage of holes in harder wood trees that have been previously excavated and abandoned by woodpeckers. Both the male and the female contribute to the construction of the nest and the incubation of the eggs (to be able to carry out this last operation, the male folds its long tail over its body, letting it fall outside the nest entrance area). Newborn chicks are fed by their parents initially with small vertebrates and insects, and then are gradually oriented towards a diet based solely on fruit and berries, which will be the one they will maintain when they reach adulthood.
For most Mesoamerican cultures, the quetzal has been a sacred animal. It was considered a symbol of life, fertility, and abundance. The Maya used its feathers as currency. Also as part of their standards and ornaments. Apparently, they obtained them by capturing the male quetzal alive when it migrated to lower lands (just after the breeding season), tore them off, and released it. It could also be that they found them fallen on the forest floor, as males shed them naturally once the mating season is over. This is confirmed by the fact that many inhabitants of the areas where these birds live have occasionally found quetzal tail feathers in the forest.
Protecting the quetzal is protecting the cloud forest and all its inhabitants
The forest surrounding San Gerardo de Dota, in the Talamanca mountain range, is one of the few places in the world where the quetzal can be observed with relative ease, but there are others like Monteverde. Monteverde is a prime example of conservation. This reserve, located in the Tilarán mountain range, is a top-tier ecotourism destination in Costa Rica. The majority of the reserve is occupied by a cloud forest where more than 500 varieties of orchids and about 400 species of birds find refuge. The forest is also famous for the abundance of epiphytic plants (those that grow on top of other plants and use them only as support) which are very dense, making it difficult to distinguish the treetops of the trees that support them.
The Monteverde Reserve gets its name from the small town of Monteverde, founded in 1949 by a group of Quakers from Alabama, United States. Later, in 1972, local residents, with the collaboration of visiting scientists, established the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve, a wildlife sanctuary of nearly 2,500 hectares to protect the area from speculation. One of the objectives was to prevent the extinction of the golden toad, a small amphibian discovered in 1966 and currently considered extinct; the last living specimen was observed in 1989. During the early years, only tropical researchers visited the reserve, but a BBC documentary in 1978 brought Monteverde to public attention, a fact that caused the number of visits to increase significantly. Today, the reserve is owned by the Tropical Science Center, a conservation association responsible for its management and maintenance.
In Monteverde – and also in San Gerardo de Dota – resplendent quetzals find their ideal habitat and continue to be common. The attraction derived from their beauty sustains a fairly intact ecosystem where many other less spectacular species find refuge, but which are essential for the survival of these cloud forests and for the quetzal itself.
Pioneers
Montezuma's feathers
The iconography of the quetzal abounds throughout time and space in Mesoamerica, including the murals of Teotihuacan and Bonampak, which depict deities and powerful lords with headdresses adorned with quetzal feathers. Some classical Mayan representations depict a kind of floral paradise inhabited by quetzals and other birds with brightly colored plumage. A good example of how these feathers were used can be found in the ethnographic museum in Vienna: a headdress attributed to Moctezuma II, but which he apparently never wore. In addition to quetzal feathers, the headdress contains gold, precious stones, and feathers from other birds, such as the lovely cotinga (Cotinga amabilis) or the common squirrel cuckoo (Piaya cayana). Fortunately, the headdress has been preserved for almost five centuries, despite conflicts, wars, and at least ten changes of location. There is a faithful replica made in the 20th century, with authentic feathers, kept at the National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec. This replica is representative of 20th-century Mexican feather art and is also considered a unique piece, as both the quetzal and the cotinga are protected species.