The prettiest bird in the jungles of South America
The anchovy green-biting cuckoo (scientific name: Pharomachrus mocinno, English name: Resplendent Quetzal) is a bird of the genus Green-biting.
It has an extremely ornate appearance, and the male green biting crane has smooth long-tailed coverts, phoenix-like tail feathers.
There are two subspecies, the nominate subspecies P. m. mocinno and costa Rican subspecies P. m. costaricensis。 This bird occupies an important place in Mesoamerican mythology.
<h1>Geographical distribution</h1>
1. Pharomachrus mocinno mocinno is found in southern Mexico (Oaxaca and Chiapas), Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and north-central Nicaragua.
2. Pharomachrus mocinno costaricensis is found in Costa Rica (except for the Deguanacaste Mountains) and the highlands of western Panama.
<h1>Habits of life</h1>
The anchovy is a specialized frugivore that occasionally eats insects (mainly wasps, ants and larvae) and frogs, but the most important food for them is the extremely nutritious avocado and members of its family. They swallow the whole fruit before spitting it out by rumination, which also helps to spread the seeds.
<h1>Grow and reproduce</h1>
1. Inhabiting the deep mountain forests of Central America (from southern Mexico to Panama), the anchovy green bitebird prefers to be alone during the non-breeding season. After the breeding season, the females chisel small holes in the rotting trees to accommodate them and lay two pale blue eggs. Since the female of the anchovy green-biting crane lays eggs only on these large trees that have been damaged by damage, the lack of sufficient large trees to be damaged by bad weather also indirectly affects the breeding rate of this bird.
2. Both parents will carry out incubation work, and the long coverts on the tail will be curled up in the hole, and a small part will be disguised as a bunch of ferns growing from the hole. Incubation takes about 18 days, with the males generally hatching during the day, while the females stay in the cave at night to continue working. After hatching, both parents will go out in search of food, such as species, berries, insects, lizards and tiny frogs. Nevertheless, females are generally less interested in caring for their young, and even in the most vulnerable periods they often disregard their needs and leave all the burden to the males until they are independent.
<h1>symbol</h1>
Flag and coat of arms of Guatemala
The green-biting crane occupies an important place in the American civilization before the European colonists invaded, and in the eyes of the ancient Maya and Azteqs, they are the embodiment of the feathered serpent god, symbolizing the kingdom of heaven and the soul, it is strictly forbidden to kill the green-biting crane, and the offender is punished with capital punishment, in their society, the green-biting crane's bright green tail feathers are more precious than gold. In the ancient Mayan and Azitec civilizations, only kings and high priests wore this emerald-like tail feather, which was up to one centimeter long. In many Mesoamerican languages, the word quetzal also means precious, sacred, and straight.
The biting crane has never been fed for long periods of time and always dies some time after being caught, and for this reason it is seen as a symbol of freedom. The Green Bitebird is the national bird of Guatemala, and there is a Green Bitebird on the flag and coat of arms of Guatemala.
<h1>Conservation status</h1>
Endangered species. The anchovy green-biting cuckoo is listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ver 3.1: 2009 Red List of Birds – Near Threatened (NT). It belongs to the first category of protected animals in the appendix to the Washington Convention.
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