On a quest for the quetzal: trekking through the high reaches of the Guatemalan cloud forests, our author is on the lookout for that bijou of birds, the mythic feathered jewel, the ever-elusive resplendent quetzal.

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On a quest for the quetzal: trekking through the high reaches of the Guatemalan cloud forests, our author is on the lookout for that bijou of birds, the mythic feathered jewel, the ever-elusive resplendent quetzal.

IN THE HALF-LIGHT OF DAWN, when the wake-up call in the Guatemalan cloud forests is a recital of contralto bird songs with the wind in the trees providing the bass notes, a presence is felt. Some describe it as mystical. Others say it's merely the feeling that comes from being an intruder in such a wet, humid greenhouse, where humans instinctively feel like trespassers being assessed by unseen creatures.

Whatever the reason, these Guatemalan high forests are eerie, a green belt of dense jungle crowning the Maya Forest--a region shared by Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize--that, along with Brazil's Matto Grosso, is considered one of the "lungs of the Americas" because their lustiness provides a large and essential portion of the Western Hemisphere's oxygen.

This forest is home to more than 350 bird species and almost 1,000 different mammals, including jaguars, pumas, tapirs, and monkeys, all thriving in a primev...

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