By David Brand

A flock of exotic birds line the windowsill at Cypress Hills Taxidermy Studio, their feathery crests frozen aloft as they stare out at Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village.

Despite their splendor, the parrots are castaways, old pets turned into plumed sculptures by John Youngaitis, Queens’ lone taxidermist. Youngaitis inherited his business and learned the trade from his father, who founded the taxidermy shop in Cypress Hills in 1958.

“I apprenticed there coming up,” Youngaitis said during a visit Sunday. He was dressed in blue jeans and a Harley Davidson tee over a black long sleeve shirt that covered the tattoos creeping up the backs of his hands. “As a kid I lucked out. I got to grow up around taxidermy.”

Over the years he has learned a lot about his craft, as well as the business of taxidermy. One lesson: don’t stuff and mount other people’s pets unless they pay upfront. As in the case of those birds, too few owners come back to collect their critters and settle their tab.

As Youngaitis honed his skills in Brooklyn, his unique craftsmanship made him pretty popular in school, he said.

“For show and tell, I’d bring in something with taxidermy and the kids would get a kick out of it,” he said. He would pass around an antler here, a turtle share there. “The teachers would tell me to go to some other classrooms and show the other people.”

In addition to local game, Youngaitis worked on rare beasts. His father contracted with local zoos that sent him animals that died in transit. He remembers comforting a sick baby elephant until it died. He later skinned and mounted it. A stuffed monkey from South America climbs a wall above the cash register.

About five years ago, Youngaitis, who lives in Glendale, sold the building in Brooklyn and moved the shop to Middle Village.

Near the door, a black bear stands with its arms spread — another Youngaitis handiwork. One wall features a menagerie of hoofed mammals — deer, antelope, a wooly ram and a massive kudu. The opposite wall is covered in a bunch of buck busts, along with a large fish and some local fowl. Most are for sale.

A giant brown bear from Alaska looms in front of a window and a wild boar hoofs the floor nearby. The stretched skin of Youngaitis’ 19-foot pet python hangs above a doorway.

“It was like a dinosaur,” Youngaitis said. “It was so freaky big, I had to do it.”