[2] The pavonine quetzal lives in the Neotropics, more specifically in the northern region of the Amazon basin, spreading from Colombia to Bolivia.

The most notable characteristics helpful in identifying this bird are its plumage, red beak (male; females have grey bills), and its distribution - it is the only quetzal occupying the lowland rainforest east of the Andes.

[2][3] The pavonine quetzal belongs to the Trogon family (Trogonidae) that falls in Trogoniformes, which differ from other birds primarily by the unique toe arrangement.

Their toe arrangement makes them poorly suited for walking or hopping, and so trogons are most commonly seen flying or perched below canopy level.

Trogons generally fly for short periods of time, and use quick, undulating wingbeats to move them from one perch to the next.

However, trogons as a family are distributed across the globe, pantropically, from roughly 35°N to 35°S, and spanning all the way from sea level up to 3500m in elevation.

In the non-African trogons, the two front toes are always at least partially fused, which serves them like spades in excavation of nesting sites.

A few other defining characteristics of this tribe include physical descriptors such as uniform and iridescent green to blue head, throat, upper breast and upper parts; and contrasting red to yellow underparts; as well as a colourful, bare eye ring; a serrated or notched margin of the lower bill's tip; and in females and juveniles, the presence of noticeable black and white patterns on the three outer pairs of tail feathers (rectrices).

First, the absence of serrations on maxilla, having a simple notch near the tip of the bill instead, in addition to an undulating margin of the mandible.

Male quetzals also have four noticeably elongated and iridescent feathers (specifically, two pairs of middle upper-tail coverts) that often meet or reach slightly beyond the tail.

[2] Similar to male, with most significant differences in the brilliance of the plumage, more buff colouring, and patterned tails.

The rectrices have an alternating bar pattern of black and white, and the upper tail coverts are shorter than in males.

Its range crosses the borders of Brazil and Venezuela, southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, and northern Bolivia.

Specifically, its preferred habitat seems to be the terra firme forests found in the Amazon basin and surrounding areas.

In comparison, they fill a similar ecological role as golden-headed quetzals, who occupy the montane forests to the north and west.

Specifically, the tree frogs seemed to belong to two genera only: Hyla and Phyllomedusa, while the fruits came mostly from Lauraceae (near half), followed by Euterpe precatoria (Arecaceae), Iryanthera sp.

There is a sufficient gap in knowledge about the breeding behaviour of pavonine quetzals (and many other trogons), especially concerning visual and vocal displays.

They choose nesting sites in rotting trees, old woodpecker holes, termataria, or vespiaries, and provide little to no lining.