How to Use quetzal in a Sentence

quetzal

noun

• Lee’s mad dash was the rarest of quetzal feathers in an otherwise drab capper to the four-game series.
  — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 15 May 2026
• This town gets its name from the country's iconic bird, the quetzal, which was sacred to many ancient cultures.
  — Christin Parcerisa Vigueras, Travel + Leisure, 9 Nov. 2021
• The items cost less than one quetzal (about 14 cents) each, and even more people stopped wearing traditional clothing.
  — Photographs and Text By Daniele Volpe, New York Times, 30 June 2017
• Locals near similar pyramids have long compared the sound to the cry of the quetzal, a bird venerated by the Mayans.
  — Douglas Starr, Discover Magazine, 25 Sep. 2012
• Wild inhabitants include the resplendent quetzal, rare species of glass frogs, and elusive animals such as the Baird’s tapir.
  — National Geographic, 8 Apr. 2019
• Tiny butterflies, identifiable by species, flit among blooming epiphytes; red-breasted meadowlarks take to the air; an emerald-green quetzal perches on a branch.
  — Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 13 June 2026
• Morning light filters through cloud forests along the Lost Waterfalls Trail—where mossy stones lead to hidden cascades and flashes of quetzal wings.
  — Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
• Made with 400 quetzal feathers and gold detailing, the headdress is known for its intricate feather artistry, says Restall.
  — Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 11 July 2024
• The quetzal’s streamers, for their part, lost their tight interlocking structure, making the vanes a pennaceous-downy hybrid that lets much of the airflow pass through without producing much lift.
  — Michael B. Habib, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2024
• Home to thousands of plants and more than 400 bird species, like the elusive quetzal and scarlet macaw, the region inspires immersion in its varied topography and wildlife.
  — Kristin Braswell, Travel + Leisure, 5 Dec. 2025
• Home to thousands of plants and more than 400 bird species, like the elusive quetzal and scarlet macaw, the region beckons to travelers with its varied topography and wildlife.
  — Kristin Braswell, Travel + Leisure, 10 Apr. 2026
• Yuanchuavis likely flew similarly to a quetzal, a forest-dwelling bird that doesn't have the most exceptional flight capabilities, O'Connor said.
  — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 Sep. 2021
• In the 1990s acoustician David Lubman recorded the hand-clap echoes at El Castillo and compared them with recordings of the quetzal.
  — Douglas Starr, Discover Magazine, 25 Sep. 2012
• The calls of resplendent quetzal birds puncture the hazy fog in northern Costa Rica's lush Monteverde Cloud Forest, where the treetops seem to scrape the heavens.
  — Megan Zhang, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 July 2021
• Although the cultures shared staples such as maize, the luxury goods prized in Teotihuacan, such as jade, cacao, and brightly colored quetzal feathers, all came from the tropical jungles of the Maya lowlands.
  — Lizzie Wade, Science | AAAS, 27 Feb. 2020
• In Peru, distances on a map may look short as the quetzal flies, but actually traversing them — often on narrow, vertiginous roads prone to washouts, rockslides, and a startling array of livestock — can be grindingly slow.
  — Tom Vanderbilt, Travel + Leisure, 2 Dec. 2023
• Located in a narrow mountain pass through which trade passed, Los Horcones would have given Teotihuacan control of the flow of cacao and quetzal feathers from the lush Chiapas coast.
  — Lizzie Wade, Science | AAAS, 27 Feb. 2020
• At 2400 meters above sea level, the hotel vantage point allows for a great view of the harpy eagle, the national bird of Panama, as well as the resplendent quetzal, which is most likely to be seen in Boquete.
  — Michael Alpiner, Forbes, 16 May 2021
• Adventure travelers already know it for the Barú Volcano National Park and Los Quetzales Trail, which offers a chance to see the elusive quetzal bird.
  — Ann Abel, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025