BrantaMedia.com

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

Considered sacred by several Mesoamerican civilizations, the Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) remains culturally significant to this day. The Resplendent Quetzal likely inspired Quetzalcoatl, the “plumed serpent” god of Mesoamerica. Legend has it that Quetzalcoatl helped create Earth. Rulers and nobility wore headdresses made from this quetzal’s shining green feathers, which symbolically connected them to the god.

In some Mesoamerican cultures, it was considered a crime to kill a quetzal, so the plumes were procured by capturing the bird, plucking its long tail feathers, and setting it free. In several Mesoamerican

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

The robust, long-legged Wood Thrush is closely related to the American Robin and thrushes of the genus Catharus, such as the Bicknell’s Thrush and Swainson’s Thrush. Its scientific name, Hylocichla mustelina, translates roughly as “weasel-colored woodland thrush,” a reference to this bird’s rich red-brown head, back, wings, and tail.

The Wood Thrush’s haunting, flute-like song is made possible by some very specialized anatomy. Like all songbirds, Wood Thrushes have a Y-shaped voice box, called a syrinx. During his three-part song, a male Wood Thrush actually sings pairs of notes simultaneously,

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

Though relatively common over much of its range, the Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) is secretive and notoriously hard to observe. These birds mostly stay close to the ground in dense thickets and brush where they forage and nest. Outside of the breeding season, Mourning Warblers are also fairly quiet and can easily go unnoticed. As a result, very little is known of this bird’s life history outside of the breeding season. In fact, there are sizable gaps in our understanding of its breeding biology as well — for instance, no