Guatemalan quetzal Guatemalan quetzal The quetzal (; code: GTQ) is the currency of Guatemala, named after the national bird of Guatemala, the resplendent quetzal. In ancient Mayan culture, the quetzal bird's tail feathers were used as currency. It is divided into 100 "centavos" or "lenes" in Guatemalan slang. The plural is "quetzales". The quetzal was introduced in 1925 during the term of President José María Orellana, whose image appears on the obverse of the one-quetzal bill. It replaced the peso. Until 1987, the quetzal was pegged to and domestically equal to the United States dollar and before the pegging to the US
Pavonine quetzal similar ecological role as golden-headed quetzals, who occupy the montane forests to the north and west. The pavonine quetzal remains a poorly studied species, meaning that much is unknown about the species in terms of behaviour. A few studies include this quetzal in bird inventories, but rarely go more in depth about the ecology and behaviour of the bird. Like most quetzals, "P. pavoninus" is primarily a frugivore. A study looking at the stomach contents of nine specimens of this bird found that eight birds had solely eaten various fruits, whereas the other one had consumed a mixture of fruits