Habitat
Canopy and subcanopy of undisturbed, humid, epiphyte-laden vergreen montane forest, cloud-forest, thickly vegetated ravines and cliffs, park-like clearings and pastures, and open areas with scattered trees adjacent to forest. From900 - 2,275 m, and up to 3,200 m in the south of its range.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Crested Quetzal (Pharomachrus antisianus), with which has sometimes been considered conspecific. Subspecies White-tipped Quetzal (Pharomachrus fulgidus) may belong to this superspecies. Synonyms of mocinno include paradiseus and resplendens. Species name sometimes mispelt mocino.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
mocinno de la Llave, 1832 - Southern Mexico (Oaxaca and Chiapas), Guatemala, Honduras, eastern El Salvador and north-central Nicaragua.
costaricensis Cabanis, 1869 - Costa Rica (except Cordillera de Guanacaste) and western highlands of Panama (eastern, at least formerly, to Veraguas).