

Expedition 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Resplendent Quetzal in Costa Rica
Where to spot the resplendent quetzal in Costa Rica, and how to log the discovery in Catch'Um.
Pharomachrus mocinno
Finding Resplendent Quetzal in Costa Rica
Looking for the resplendent quetzal in Costa Rica? Start with Monteverde Cloud Forest, where access and habitat make a sighting more likely than a chance roadside glimpse.
Monteverde Cloud Forest in Puntarenas is the place to begin. Misty canopy bridges and moss-draped trees, with sloths, quetzals, and hummingbirds in cool highland forest. Give yourself quiet time at dawn or dusk and keep your distance.
Costa Rica context: Sloths in the cloud forest, toucans in the canopy, and more biodiversity per square kilometre than almost anywhere on Earth.
In Costa Rica, look especially around cloud forest and montane rainforest. Those settings usually put you closest to where this species is active.
Where to spot one
Monteverde Cloud Forest
Puntarenas
Misty canopy bridges and moss-draped trees, with sloths, quetzals, and hummingbirds in cool highland forest.
Full species guide
Biology, interesting facts, identification, and conservation live on the Resplendent Quetzal field guide. This page stays focused on finding one in Costa Rica.
Keep exploring
Keep exploring
- Resplendent Quetzallegendary • Cloud Forest
- Costa Rica15 species
- Sloth in Costa RicaWhere to find it
- Harpy Eagle in Costa RicaWhere to find it
- Poison Dart Frog in Costa RicaWhere to find it
- Mantled Howler in Costa RicaWhere to find it
- Red-eyed Tree Frog in Costa RicaWhere to find it
- White-faced Capuchin in Costa RicaWhere to find it
- Leafcutter Ant in Costa RicaWhere to find it
- Ocelot in Costa RicaWhere to find it
Free on iOS
Log the Resplendent Quetzal in Costa Rica
Spot one in the wild, then scan it in Catch'Um to log your legendary discovery.