The quetzal is recognized as one of the most beautiful birds in Mexico and Central America. It holds significant historical and cultural value, as it was closely associated with Kukulkan in ancient times.
The Mayans called it Q’uk’umatz, “The feathered serpent.” Along with this phrase, they shared these images of a quetzal in flight, captured from the perfect angle, on the Corozal border of Chiapas, creating a unique image that quickly went viral on social media.
Majestic Quetzal Captured in Spellbinding Flight: A Symbol of Endangered BeautyNo, it wasn’t a Dementor, it was a beautiful Quetzal flying through the skies
On April 12th, a unique form reminiscent of a Dementor from Harry Potter appeared, albeit it was the majestic flight of a quetzal captured by a user in a community in Frontera Corozal, Chiapas. This photograph swiftly circulated on social media, underscoring the significance of the bird, which is endangered.
Given the angle of the photograph and the distance, some pointed out the possibility of Harry Potter’s magic seeping into real life, while others speculated it as a sign of the bird wandering soullessly in search of people’s memories. It’s worth mentioning that in March, one of these birds was relocated from Mexico City, near the Cuahutémoc borough, to its new habitat at the Miguel Álvarez del Toro Zoo.
Quetzal, the Most Beautiful Bird, Surprises in the Skies
This monogamous bird inhabits tropical and subtropical forests, feeding on aguacatillos, insects, mollusks, lizards, and frogs, among other creatures. Its natural predators include the emerald toucanet, squirrels, and other nocturnal mammals, as well as owls, hawks, and eagles, but primarily humans who capture it for the pet trade, unaware that it doesn’t survive captivity.
Despite this, several individuals have been rescued from captivity to be reintroduced into the wild. The beauty of this bird lies in its round, dark eyes lending it a serene air, a budding crest crowning its head ending 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 in the spectacular four-feather tail measuring up to a meter long, revealing sexual dimorphism.
The female exhibits duller green and gray colors with no long feathers in the tail. Though the flight of this beautiful bird leaves one speechless, the cloud forests, the quetzal’s distribution areas, are increasingly shrinking, posing a problem for its population.
The Beautiful Flight of a Quetzal
Quetzals were one of the most revered species among Mesoamerican communities. Presently, they are an endangered species; however, several individuals can still be spotted. According to Mauricio Ruíz Velasco, from the Institute of Philological Research at UNAM, the Mexicas associated the bird with the deity Quetzalcóatl, while in Mayan culture, its counterpart was Kukulkán.
The deity was linked to the sun and the sky, also associated with freedom. The latter, because they cannot live in captivity, as they stop eating until they die, explains why quetzals in captivity are at greater risk and how they form a unique flight in the sky among the mists.