[Aztlan] Plaster and Echoes

[Nick Hopkins]

Just a question-- I haven't been following this too closely.  There  
have been a lot of references to the "chirping" sound of quetzals.   
But my source on bird calls has no mention of such a call, and since  
Maya bird names often imitate the calls of the birds, I assumed that  
the quetzal would have a call something like its name, k'uk' (or  
q'uq'), like other Trogonidae.  Irby Davis (Field Guide to the Birds  
of Mexico and Central America, UT Press, 1972, pg. 87), says of the  
quetzal:

"The song is made up of a series of similar calls.  A single motif  
may be represented as cuauk cuoo, or possibly cuak ca; the pitch is  
about F2D2 sharp E2.  The complete motif with the pause between the  
figures requires nearly two sec.; it is repeated after a rest of  
about one sec.  The series may continue for several minutes. Although  
it is heavier, the quality is similar to that of the Jalapa Trogon."

So where is the "chirp"?