Saddlebirds

(Photo: helmut-zimmer)

The scientific name is Pharomachrus mocinno, also known as quetzal bird. In ancient times in Central America, only priests and people of the upper class were allowed to wear the feathers of this bird. Any civilians found to have hid these feathers were killed. With the ancient Mayan culture, seo feathers are valuable, more valuable than gold. Anyone who kills a seo bird will be sentenced to death. Both the Mayans and the Aztecs worshiped the sacred birds of quetzal. For them, this bird has a close relationship with snake god Quetzalcoatl. By the time of the colonial era, the seo's tail became a symbol of freedom, it became the national emblem of Guatemala. The name of this bird is also used to put money (quetzal currency of Guatemala)

The reason this kind of bird seems so sacred is because of its very special appearance . Their fur has vivid colors, highlighted by two colors: green and red. The male is very beautiful: short, yellow, with long feathers covering the tail, forming a V-shape. Those distinctive blue feathers can reach 105 meters long, reaching the maximum length when the bird 3-year-old seo tail, adult seo with a body about 35cm long. Meanwhile, the female has a black beak, no long hair on the tail, the fur is also darker in color with green and brown.

(Photo: cayaya-birding)

The main food of this bird is insect plants, invertebrates, amphibians and lizards.

  The breeding season lasts from March to June, and this season the males dance, chirp and sing to flirt, attracting the females to look happy. When paired up, the two together to make a nest, they use mines to drill into the trunk. This hole has a diameter of about 10-11cm, about 5-14m from the ground, and is usually on the tree trunk. Unlike other types of birds, they do not nest with anything, they lay eggs on it for about 2 eggs. Eggs are only about 35x30mm.

Eggs are broodstock alternately brooding for 17-18 days.The female broods all night and in the middle of the day, while the male chicks hatch the eggs early in the morning and in the afternoon. Because the tail was too long, when it was my turn to hatch the egg, the male had to lie on the egg with the long tail feathers bent forward, bent over its head and hanging out of the tree hole. Therefore, at the end of the breeding season, this beautiful tail feathers is badly damaged and falls out because the males often come in and get out of the nest. However, some time later these strange long hairs will grow back.

The baby is in the nest for about 30 days, during the first week the baby eats the insect that the parents bring back to the nest. What is rubbish is thrown out of the nest - because it is not lined and thanks to such hygiene, the nest is very clean.

At about the third week, young birds leave the nest and are taught flying by the bird. But the chicks only pay attention to the first young bird trying to fly , while the second one is neglected. But soon, both young birds can fly so confidently and they will forever leave the nest they were born with. However, young birds continue to stay close to their parents for a while longer.

(Photo: helmut-zimmer)

In addition, seo tails also have many different characteristics. Each of their feet has 4 fingers: 2 front fingers, 2 back fingers.The first and second fingers point back , while the third and fourth fingers are facing forward . This makes their feet weak. The first and second toes cannot move. The seo skin is thin, easy to tear, so their hair is also easily shed. On the top of the caudal fin, there is a bristling green feather that looks like a crest. Their cries are both strange and loud.

Seo tails usually live in mountainous areas at an altitude of about 1.2-3km above the sea surface . The climate is a bit cold, they live in the lower layers of the forest, often flying from one branch to another to feed. This particular bird is distributed throughout South Mexico to Panama. Tourists come here would love to see the strange beauty of this wonderful bird, now protected by law in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama.

(Photo: oiseaux)