Meet The Dracula Parrot, The Most Gothic Bird On Earth

This vulture-parrot hybrid is found only within the jungles of New Guinea and might be the most gothic bird on Earth.

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Their feathers are used for ceremonial headdresses and the birds themselves are sold for sustenance and exotic pets.kandongkanxi.nature/Instagram

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prrttybird/Instagram

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The average length of life for Pesquet's parrot is nine years.Klaus Stiefel/Flickr

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According to IUCN, their population is at less than 21,000 pairs.Charles Davies/Flickr

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animal.photos/bird6-.htm

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Unlike other parrots, the Dracula parrot doesn't climb around the tree in which it resides but rather jumps from branch to branch.Linda De Volder/Flickr

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There are only two other species of parrot that have lost their head feathers over the course of their evolution.Doug Janson/Wikimedia Commons

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Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net) /Wikimedia Commons

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The Dracula parrot is listed as "vulnerable to extinction" on the IUCN's red list.Peter Tan/Flickr

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Klaus Stiefel/Flickr

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Only a few zoos have Dracula parrots on display.bogniets/Wikimedia Commons

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Enfadado/Wikimedia Commons

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The feathers of the Dracula parrot can fetch $34 on the rural New Guinea market, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.Ltshears/Wikimedia Commons

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Meen & Zhafri/Flickr

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The only difference male and female Dracula parrots is that males have a red blotch behind their ears.fotokraj2/Wikimedia Commons

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Pesquet's parrots have been successfully bred in a number of zoots, including Loro Parque, Palmitos Park, Bronx Zoo, Los Angeles Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, and the Antonio de Dios zoo in the Philippines.Greg Hume/Wikimedia Commons

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The Ultra-Rare Dracula Parrot Looks Like A Vampire And Screams To Communicate

It's likely the rarest, most gothic bird in existence and it's so aptly named the Dracula parrot.

Its scarlet red belly is surrounded by a sleek black plumage and gray scaling, like a cape. Its vulture-like hooked beak protrudes from its small bald head set with beady eyes. It lives a nomadic life, feeding on a highly-specialized diet.

Though it may not be as bloodthirsty as its name implies, the Dracula parrot is nonetheless an eerie sight.

Experience the Dracula or Pesquet's parrot in its natural habitat.

Formally called Pesquet's parrot or Psittrichas fulgidus, this sinister-looking bird is the only member of its genus and its genus is the only member of its subfamily.

It's truly one-of-a-kind and the resemblance it bears to Dracula is somewhat uncanny.

These ominous looking birds are only native to the mountainous rainforests of the island of New Guinea in the wider geographical Pacific area known as Oceania.

Outside of this, there are only a few zoos worldwide that house the creepy vulturine parrot.

Besides its resemblance, that's about all the Dracula parrot has in common with vultures.

This parrot feasts mainly on a sticky species of hard-to-find figs, the rarity of which endangers its survival. However, nectar and certain flowers have also been known to frequent the diet of these frugivores.

Like vultures, the Dracula parrot has evolved to lose the feathers on its head so that it doesn't get messy with the sticky syrup of figs.

Dracula parrots are fairly large, clocking in at 18 inches long and weighing between 24 and 28 ounces.

There is very little difference between male and female Dracula parrots. One telltale mark is that most males have a red spot on their heads behind their eyes.

Not much is known about the Dracula parrot's breeding habits in the wild. Researchers have gleaned that females lay up to two eggs at a time in a nest inside a big, hollow tree.

Dracula parrots appear to be somewhat social and are typically spotted in pairs or sometimes large groups of up to 20.

When in flight, Pesquet's parrots alternate between rapidly flapping their wings and enjoying short glides. Unlike other parrots, these birds don't climb branches to move around in trees. Instead, they jump from branch to branch.

They are known to give out haunting calls that have been described as harsh, raspy, and growling, and they can be heard from quite long distances.

Experience the Pesquet's parrot's eerie scream here.

Despite its name, the Dracula parrot is the hunted and not the hunter. Its wings are highly prized in certain indigenous markets and its chicks command very high prices, too.

This, along with the usual blight of habitat loss due to the logging industry, has left the Dracula parrot with a "vulnerable" status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) list of threatened species.

Perhaps the Dracula parrot, with its innocuous eating habits, didn't fully satisfy your bloodlust.

You'll be happy to know that there are actual birds out there that do practice hematophagy or feeding on blood. The vampire finch of the Galpagos Islands is a bloodthirsty species that will ruthlessly target bigger birds, like Nazcas or blue-footed boobies, specifically for their blood.

Vampire finches peck at the tail feathers of other birds to draw blood, like a wood pecker taps a tree for bugs.

That's pretty savage, but not quite as brutal as the Kea. This crazy bird is one of ten parrots native to New Zealand. A Kea will use its curved beak to rip the wool right off a sheep's back and get to the bare skin. Then they dig in tearing through the flesh and picking out the fat from the sheep's back. This is sometimes fatal to the sheep.

Other hematophagous critters include vampire bats and the eel-like lamprey sometimes referred to as a vampire fish.

With those critters in mind, perhaps the Dracula parrot with its innocent diet of sweet fruit is not so aptly named after all.

After this look at Pesquet's parrot, meet Alex the parrot and decide if he was, indeed, the world's smartest bird. Then, use this handy calculator to determine just how long humanity could last in the face of a vampire apocalypse.

Excerpt from:
Meet The Dracula Parrot, The Most Gothic Bird On Earth

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero