The quetzal is considered one of the most beautiful birds in Mexico and Central America. It has historical and cultural significance because it was closely associated with Kukulkan in ancient times.
The Mayans called it Q’uk’umatz, or “the feathered serpent.” Along with this sentence, they released these photographs of a quetzal in flight, shot from the perfect angle on Chiapas’ Corozal border, resulting in a one-of-a-kind image that swiftly spread on social media.
Majestic Quetzals Captured in Spellbinding Flight: A Symbol of Endangered Beauty. No, it was not a Dementor, but a magnificent Quetzal flying across the heavens.
On April 12th, a strange form like a Dementor from Harry Potter occurred, but it was the spectacular flight of a quetzal taken by a user in Frontera Corozal, Chiapas. This photograph quickly spread on social media, emphasizing the importance of the bird, which is endangered.
Given the angle of the shot and the distance, some argued that Harry Potter’s wizardry was leaking into real life, while others saw it as a symbol of the bird traveling soullessly in quest of people’s memories. In March, one of these birds was transported from Mexico City’s Cuahutémoc district to the Miguel Álvarez del Toro Zoo.
Quetzal, the most beautiful bird, surprises in the sky.
This monogamous bird lives in tropical and subtropical woodlands, where it feeds on aguacatillos, insects, mollusks, lizards, and frogs, among others. Its natural predators include the emerald toucanet, squirrels, and other nocturnal mammals, as well as owls, hawks, and eagles, but it is mostly captured for the pet trade by humans who are ignorant that it does not survive captivity.
Despite this, several individuals have been saved from captivity and restored to the wild. The beauty of this bird lies in its round, dark eyes that lend it a serene air, a budding crest crowning its head that ends with a small, intense yellow beak, and, above all, a spectacular plumage resplendent and colorful in the male, displaying iridescent shades of red on the belly, orange, yellow, blue, and emerald green across the rest of its body, and a spectacular four-feather tail measuring up to a meter long, revealing sexual dimorphism.
The female has duller green and gray coloring and no long feathers in her tail. Though the flight of this gorgeous bird is breathtaking, the cloud forests that serve as the quetzal’s habitat are rapidly disappearing, posing a threat to its number.
Beautiful Flight of a Quetzal
Quetzals were one of the most treasured creatures in Mesoamerican cultures. They are currently an endangered species, however some individuals can still be spotted. According to Mauricio Ruíz Velasco of the Institute of Philological Research at UNAM, the Mexicas identified the bird with the deity Quetzalcóatl, whereas in Mayan tradition, its counterpart was Kukulkán.
The deity was associated with both the sun and the sky, as well as freedom. The latter, because they cannot live in captivity and stop eating until they die, explains why quetzals in captivity are more vulnerable and how they make a distinct flight in the sky among the mists.
