This is a portion of an acrylic painting I did a little while back of the beautiful Quetzal (which I have yet to see here in Costa Rica). The full picture has a teary woman watching the bird. I gave this painting to my good friend Anna, from Switzerland, who was just married…yay. My husband Pedro and I were the witnesses, a great honor indeed…and we ate loads and loads of Japanese food. Ricisimo!

With approximately 850 recorded bird species, the country boasts one-tenth of the world’s total. More than 630 are resident species; the remainder are occasionals who fly in for the winter. Birds that have all but disappeared in other areas still find tenuous safety in protected lands in Costa Rica, though many species face extinction due to deforestation. The nation offers hope for such rare jewels of the bird world as the quetzal and the scarlet macaw, both endangered species yet commonly seen in protected reserves.

from http://photo.net/cr/moon/birds.html