The Quetzals are one of the most striking and beautiful birds in the world. They have very beautiful colors on their feathers, like glittering emerald green feathers on their neck above the crimson plumage below. The Quetzal can grow up to 3 feet (1m) long. The male can has brighter plumage than the female has shows off these tail feathers during spectacular swooping display flights above the trees. After each breeding season these feathers are shed and then regrow. The Quetzal eats insects, small frogs, lizards, and snails. They also eat fruit. The Quetzals are particularly fond of wild avocados and eat at least 18 different species of a vacados. Quetzals depend on the avocado trees that if the trees get cut down or just stop growing the fruit they disappear from the area. The avocado tree depends on the Quetzal too. When the bird eats the fruit they eat the seeds also, so when they regurgitate they drop the seed in other places. That’s how the tree is relocated. The Quetzals nests are in hole of rotting tree trunks. Both male and female birds help to incubate the two sky blue eggs that are laid, and both play a part in looking after the young. The Quetzal’s natural range extends from southern Mexico to western Panama, but it breeds only in the areas of cloud forest, above a height of 5,000 feet (1,500m). The Quetzal population has decreased over the years because of the cutting the rainforests and it has been hunted for souvenirs. No one knows how many are left in the world. The Quetzal is called the Bird of the Gods from Aztecs of Mexico, and worshiped as a god of the air. Only members of the royal family were allowed to wear its tail feathers, which were always taken from live birds.