A Rainbow... on a Bird

Yesterday we saw three resplendent quetzal while they were digesting avocados. They are these very brightly colored birds that are very rare. The males have long feathers that look like tails but are actually long feathers that come from the back.

One of the more interesting things about them is they eat mostly avocados! Also their backs look green to your eye but they are actually brown. There are prisms is their wing feathers instead of pigment, and the prisms reflect the light so they are iridescent. They look green or blue depending on the light. We took this picture through a spotting scope that our guide had.

The Aztec and Maya use the think that the quetzal were gods. I can see why they thought that because their bright colors and long tail feathers make them god-like. Their tail feathers are as long as their body. When they fly they flap behind them. I didn't know that avocados were the food of the gods.

After a quetzal eats avocado it flies away from the tree and sits down to digest the avocado. When the avocado has been digested they spit up the seeds. I think avocado are spread by the quetzals when they carry the seeds away and spit them up somewhere else. Our guide finds quetzal by listening for the sound of dropping avocado seeds in the forest.