The World's Most Colorful Bird

Appearance

Quetzals are an incredible colored bird. Males display a bright metallic green or blue on most of its body and have a red chest and a red belly. Female Quetzals have similar coloration to males but they are less bright. Females have a red chest like males but are much duller like a grey. They have a grey or bronze colored head, edged with green. Since Quetzals are members of the Trogon family, they have two toes on each foot facing forward and two facing backwards which help them rest high in the trees. 

Diet

Quetzals are omnivorous who are very skilled hunters. They have mainly a fruit-based diet. They favor small avocado-like fruits also known as the Mexicola avocado. Quetzals are known to gather in vast numbers around fruit trees. If Quetzals' fruit source is low, then they will eat small animals such as insects, lizards, frogs, snails, and larvae to get nutrition for their bodies. These birds help their environment because their droppings contain fruit seeds which are spread across the forest and then the seeds go to the ground and a new tree starts to grow.

Habitat

Quetzals are found throughout mountainous rainforests of Central America. They inhabit tropical forests in areas that are cooler, contain dense vegetation and that are incredibly moist. Quetzals prefer to live in high mountain ranges at altitudes of 4,000 and 10,000 ft. Since they live in high altitudes, there tends to be higher levels of moisture, making the forest foggy. Quetzals live in holes in the trees close to the top of the canopy. They build the holes by using their powerful beaks, just like woodpeckers. Quetzals camouflage amongst their habitats colorful vegetation.

Reproduction

Quetzals use their sharp beaks to make holes in trees to create their nests. The females lay from one to three eggs which both male and female will incubate them. Since males have their tails over three feet long, their tail usually sticks out of the hole. The incubation time for Quetzal eggs is about three weeks. Chicks hatch with their eyes closed an are fed by both their parents. Quetzal chicks begin to fly when they are about three weeks old and once they get their confidence. After they learn to fly, they will flee their nest and find a territory of their own but, they will remain close to their father for their first few years.

Thank you for reading this informative blog. I hope you learned a lot from reading this and learned about this amazing, colorful bird. Share this information to your family and friends. I also have a Youtube channel, check it out and there will be many videos about animals and I know you will love it! The Informative Zoologist