Quetzal ("Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary"), from the Nahuatl root = "stand up" used to refer to an upstanding plume of feathers. The word entered English through Spanish. The word "quetzal" was originally used for just the resplendent quetzal, the long-tailed quetzal of Guatemala, (more specifically a town called Petén) which is the national bird and the name of the currency of Guatemala. It still often refers to that bird specifically but now also names all the species of the genera "Pharomachrus" and "Euptilotis". "Pharomachrus" is from Ancient Greek , "mantle", and , "long", referring to the wing and tail coverts of the
Dark Quetzal Dark Quetzal Dark Quetzal is a fantasy novel by Katherine Roberts, first published in 2003 by The Chicken House. It is the final book in The Echorium Sequence and is the sequel to Crystal Mask, set 11 years after the events of that book. The main characters are Kyarra, Frazhin and Yashra's daughter who was raised as a singer, and Night Plume, a quetzal (half-man, half-bird) who has grown up under Frazhin's control. Dark Quetzal is set in the world of the Isle of Echoes where the Singers live in The Echorium. The Singers have many special abilities, the most