Terrifying And Beautiful At The Same Time: Meet The Dracula Parrot
Meet a parrot that looks like it flew straight out of a gothic movie set. The Dracula Parrot, also known as Pesquet's Parrot, is striking, unusual, and impossible to forget once you see those dark feathers and flashes of red.
Found only in New Guinea, this large bird is known for its bare face, its fruit-heavy diet, and its dramatic appearance. Despite the spooky nickname, it is not bloodthirsty at all, just one of the most distinctive parrots in the world.
From its mountain habitat to its declining population, there is a lot more to this bird than its eerie looks. Read on to see why the Dracula Parrot gets so much attention.
1. The Pesquet's Parrot is a highly specialized frugivore and eats only a few types of figs.
The Pesquet's Parrot is a highly specialized frugivore and eats only a few types of figs. When food is scarce, it can sometimes feed on flowers and nectar.
It is seasonally nomadic, at least in sections of its range, in response to the availability of fruits. The Pesquet's Parrot is one of three parrots with bare (featherless) faces.
It is thought to have evolved this way to avoid feathers becoming matted with the fruit pulp that the parrot feeds on. It can be found at elevations between 1,968 and 4,920 ft.
It is occasionally recorded in lowlands but is mainly restricted to the hill and lower montane forests. In the wild, little is known about its breeding behavior.
It usually lays two eggs in a large, hollow tree nest. The incubation period is 29 days, and the fledging age is 12 weeks.
The breeding season lasts from February to May. Pesquet's Parrots are usually seen in pairs or groups of up to 20 birds.
It alternates between quick flapping and short glides when flying and spends most of its time perched at the top of the canopies.
This is similar to the world’s slowest animals that turn slowness into survival.
2. It usually lays two eggs in a large, hollow tree nest.
3. It alternates between quick flapping and short glides when flying.
4. It's usually seen in pairs or groups of up to 20 birds.
5. Watch these birds on video:
Its call can be described as harsh and rasping, and it is also described as growling. There are currently only about 20,000 'Dracula' pairs in New Guinea.
It is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The reasons for this are:
- Its feathers are highly prized.
- Live birds command high prices in aviculture.
- It is continuously losing habitat to humans.
We hope that the situation will improve for these amazing birds.
After meeting the Dracula parrot, take one look at this Mexican stygian owl’s devil-red reflected eyes.
Share this article:
