The Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno of Mesoamerica: loss of breeding habitat and population estimates (1990–2021)

Document Type

Journal Article

Role

Author

Published In

Bird Conservation International

Volume

36

Article Number

e45

Publication Date

9-30-2026

Abstract

The Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno de la Llave, a resident bird of Mesoamerican highland cloud forests, is currently listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of globally threatened species. The objective of the present study was to assess how much potential breeding habitat remains and to estimate populations as a function of this habitat. We use a satellite-derived data set for tropical moist forests combined with a digital elevation model, factored by forest patch size to assess remaining (protected/non-protected) nesting habitat over three time periods (1990, 2011, 2021), as well as rates of habitat loss over the past three decades. Based on a literature review, local expertise, models of habitat distribution, and the estimated density of individual birds, we provide an updated estimate of population sizes for the two subspecies of the Resplendent Quetzal. To help visualize the distribution of the species during the breeding season (January–June) we plot 20,269 unique records of eBird data. A total of 361,000 ha of potential breeding habitat (1,500–3,000 m ASL) has been lost between 1990 and 2021, with 51% of habitat lost for P. mocinno mocinno (southern Mexico to western Nicaragua) and 7% of P. mocinno costaricensis (Costa Rica and western Panama). We estimate the current population of Resplendent Quetzal in Mesoamerica to be 334,000 (± 26,000) individuals, approximately 55,500 P. m. mocinno and 277,500 P. m. costaricensis. We re-evaluated the IUCN Red List status for the species and both subspecies. While the habitat conditions of both subspecies are quite different, the study provides range-wide information that could support a possible upgrade in the IUCN Red List status of the species to Vulnerable (VU A2).

Keywords

Mesoamerica, Resplendent Quetzal, Habitat loss, 1990-2021

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