Puebla Tehuacán

The Quetzal is a species of tropical bird living in the rainforests of Central America; it is characterized by the beautiful tail feathers of the male birds. It feeds on fruits, insects and small vertebrates and currently is in danger of extinction mainly due to the hunting of its colorful tail feather. The Quetzal is very important in Guatemala and because of this it is represented in its currency, its flag and its coat of arms. The bird is a very large Part of the art and mythology of the ancient pre-Columbian civilizations.

The body length of a Quetzal, both male and female, ranges between 35 and 40 centimeters but the male has tail feathers that get up to 60 centimeters in length. The male has green feathers on its head with a crest that appears short and almost hairy, under which are set tiny brown colored eyes. His yellow beak is curved at the tip and wide at the base, which gives him crushing strength. The neck and upper chest are an iridescent emerald green which changes into blue from some angles, while the bottom of the chest and belly are a scarlet red. The wings have are pitch-black while the legs are a yellowish brown color. The outer part of the tail is rich in iridescent blues and greens, while the inner part is composed of white feathers.

The female Quetzal, which is much less showy then the male lacks a crest and the long tail feathers and has a gray head and a beak that varies between yellow and black. The chest and the back are green with a red bottom. The tail presents white, black and gray stripes.

The scientific name of the "Quetzal Guatemalan" is Pharomachrus Mociño. Pharo means light; machrus, large and mociño, comes from the name of the botanist and ornithologist Joseph F. Mariano Mociño Suarez, a member of the scientific expedition to New Spain in 1797. Quetzal is the name commonly given to the birds belonging to the family of Trogoniformes. There is a kind of stress that this family, the "Quetzal Guatemalan" is the one that really has a representation in the history of Central America; the Pharomachrus Mociño was first described by The Key in 1832. In ancient civilizations, the quetzal, also received the name "Zeruén", "Caluro" and "Gukumatz".

The Quetzal Guatemalan forms a super species with "Quetzal Fulgido" and the "Quetzal Crestado" in many cases they have been considered the same species because of the close resemblance between them. The "Quetzal Guatemalan" can be divided into two subspecies: Pharomachrus mociño, described by The Key in 1832 and "Pharomachrus Mociño Costaricensis", described by Canabis in 1869.

Defined as the most beautiful bird on the American continent, Quetzal was for Mesoamerican cultures a symbol of fertility, abundance, welfare, life, prosperity and freedom. In the Mayan and Aztec cultures, decorations, banners and outfits were made with the iridescent feathers of Quetzal and were a symbol of wealth and power (Figure 4). This is why rich attire and badges for gods and gentlemen of the Aztec empire were always retouched with the feathers of this bird. The feathers were also used feathers as a talisman.

To obtain the feathers it was necessary to capture the Quetzal alive, then the feathers were wrenched out and later the Quetzal would be released. In the prosperous trades of Mesoamerican, Quetzal feathers were one of the most coveted goods, they were marketed by the Mayans as far north as the "Central Valley of Mexico" and as far south as is the "Empire of the Incas", an area that is eight times the birds own territory.

According to documents inherited by the Spanish missionary "Fray Bartolome de las Casas" (1474 - 1566), the capture or hunting of Quetzals was considered a great insult: "... to be punished with death those who kill the bird with the rich plumage, as they were difficult to find and their feathers of great value because they were used as currency".

Referring to the importance of Quetzal in pre-Columbian cultures, it is known that Aztec and Mayan civilizations worshiped a god called "Quetzalcoatl". The relationship between Quetzal and the god "Quetzalcoatl" lays in the name and on the image of God: "Quetzalcoatl" etymologically comes from the Quetzal and Cóatl, snake. Therefore "Quetzalcoatl" means "feathered serpent" and this is how it represents the iconography of this god. The Aztecs worshiped as a god in the pattern of priests, inventor of the calendar and protector of the artisans. For the Maya "Quetzalcoatl" was their messiah.

There are many legends that talk about this mythical bird, having been transmitted from generation to generation orally from the ancestors of the indigenous people of Central America until the present day. Of the many legends existing today two of them are as follows.

According to the indigenous people of Guatemala, the plumage of Quetzal was green before the clashes between indigenous and Spanish colonizers. Spaniards killed and wounded many indigenous, the Quetzal came down from heaven to help the indigenous people and its wounded plumage is Manchó blood, which is why today the Quetzal has red feathers on its chest.

The second legend is this; once a tyrant seized a Quetzal to prove to everyone that he could do whatever he wanted. This man locked the bird in a cage and kept it in captivity, but the Quetzal soon became ill and died, and so won its freedom. Therefore the Quetzal is a symbol of freedom, Quetzal dies because it would be more free that way than living a life in captivity.