Abstract The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is of particular conservation concern because of its iconic status in Central American culture. This species is a secondary cavity nester and modifies abandoned woodpecker nest sites in dead tree trunks (i.e., snags). We used 11 historical nest sites, reported in 1969, from Atitlan, Guatemala and 10 recent nest sites from San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica to examine if a relationship exists between nest and snag height. There were significant differences between Costa Rica and Guatemala in both nest height (6.3 vs. 10 m, respectively; t-test14 = −2.49, P = 0.042) and snag height (8.1 vs. 14.0 m, respectively; t-test13 = −2.39, P = 0.033). There was no difference in nest heights relative to snag heights for Costa Rica (0.76) and Guatemala (0.77; t-test17 = −0.20, P = 0.84). One aspect of conservation efforts for this species has been placement of nest boxes to provide nesting sites for additional pairs. Our results provide a better understan...