Honduran rainforest birds

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During my last trip to Honduras, I spent time in Pico Bonito National Park in La Ceiba. The Pico Bonito Lodge is an incredible eco-lodge in the rainforests, featured in the famous ‘Small Luxury Hotels of the World. As my visit was during the low season, I got a relativity low rate. Bonus!!! 

 

The high season is during the bird watching season, also known as ‘birding’. The birding season can go from February to April and is just before the hurricane season.

I used to think that bird watching was an activity practised with people with too much time on their hands, but when we are always busy staring downwards at our mobile phones, it will do us very well to go out and watch some birds!

This trip got me interested in birds, and I have been doing quite a fair amount of reading. I would like to share with you a little creature that lives in the rainforest of Central America.

The Quetzal is a bird, which can be found in the mountains or “cloud” rainforest of Mesoamerica. 

If you have seen one flying in the wild, then you have been blessed. It would be as if the Mayan Gods have vested upon you a once in a lifetime spectacle. Allow me to describe it to you. Imagine as if emeralds, rubies and sapphires decided that they all wanted to be carousing around in a bird form around the rainforest. Amazing, no?

The Quetzal was considered divine by pre-Columbian civilizations. Many Mayan myths say that the Quetzal will usually kill itself if being captured or caged. For this reason, it is a traditional symbol of liberty for the Mayan people of Central America.

However, the future of the Quetzal is uncertain unless we do something to protect its home. The Quetzal is listed as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

As the rainforest disappears, the natural habitat of the Quetzal is also in danger. This is sad news. I do not know about you, but I would not like this beautiful creature to disappear right before our eyes.

That’s it. Now you know. What about you? Which is your favourite tropical bird?