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
Crested quetzal Crested quetzal The crested quetzal /ketSAHL/ ("Pharomachrus antisianus") is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae native to South America, where it is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny described the crested quetzal in 1837 as "Trogon antisianus". The species name is derived from "Antis", a Latinised version of the Andes, ultimately from "anti", an Incan word for copper. It is closely related to the resplendent quetzal ("P. mocinno"). It is one of five species of the genus "Pharomachrus" known as quetzals. The