Young Resplendent Quetzal
Resplendent quetzals are beautiful birds well known for their colorful plumage. They have a green body (showing iridescence from green-gold to blue-violet) and red breasts. Depending on the light, quetzal feathers can shine in a variant of colors: green, cobalt, lime, yellow, to ultramarine. Their green upper tail coverts hide their tails and in breeding males are particularly splendid, being longer than the rest of the body. The primary wing coverts are also unusually long and give a fringed appearance. The male has a helmet-like crest. The bill, which is partly covered by green filamentous feathers, is yellow in mature males and black in females. Their iridescent feathers, which cause them to appear shiny and green like the canopy leaves, are a camouflage adaptation to hide within the canopy during rainy weather.
The parents dig their own nests in rotting tree trunks and termite mounds, or they use old woodpecker nests and natural cavities in trees. Both sexes participate in the construction of the nest and the incubation of the clutch, which usually consists of two eggs. Both parents care for the chicks, the male to a greater extent.
Young quetzals can fly at about three weeks of age, but males do not begin to grow their long tail plumes for three years.
The adults have a more fruit-based diet while the chicks consume primarily insects and some fruits.
Quetzals use the methods of "hovering" and "stalling" in order to selectively pick the fruit near the tips of the branches. Particularly important are wild avocados and other fruit of the laurel family, which the birds swallow whole before regurgitating the pits.
This image is © Copyright
Young Resplendent Quetzal
Resplendent quetzals are beautiful birds well known for their colorful plumage. They have a green body (showing iridescence from green-gold to blue-violet) and red breasts. Depending on the light, quetzal feathers can shine in a variant of colors: green, cobalt, lime, yellow, to ultramarine. Their green upper tail coverts hide their tails and in breeding males are particularly splendid, being longer than the rest of the body. The primary wing coverts are also unusually long and give a fringed appearance. The male has a helmet-like crest. The bill, which is partly covered by green filamentous feathers, is yellow in mature males and black in females. Their iridescent feathers, which cause them to appear shiny and green like the canopy leaves, are a camouflage adaptation to hide within the canopy during rainy weather.
The parents dig their own nests in rotting tree trunks and termite mounds, or they use old woodpecker nests and natural cavities in trees. Both sexes participate in the construction of the nest and the incubation of the clutch, which usually consists of two eggs. Both parents care for the chicks, the male to a greater extent.
Young quetzals can fly at about three weeks of age, but males do not begin to grow their long tail plumes for three years.
The adults have a more fruit-based diet while the chicks consume primarily insects and some fruits.
Quetzals use the methods of "hovering" and "stalling" in order to selectively pick the fruit near the tips of the branches. Particularly important are wild avocados and other fruit of the laurel family, which the birds swallow whole before regurgitating the pits.
This image is © Copyright