Roadrunner Bird (Remarkable Desert Specialist)

The roadrunners (genus Geococcyx), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. The roadrunner generally ranges in size from 56 to 61 cm from tail to beak. The average weight is about 230–430 g. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, usually in the desert. Some have been clocked at 32 km/h while a few have also been clocked up to 43 km/h.

The roadrunner usually lives alone or in pairs. Breeding pairs are monogamous and mate for life, and pairs may hold a territory all year. The roadrunner's nest is often composed of sticks, and may sometimes contain leaves, feathers, snakeskins, or dung. It is commonly placed 1 to 3 meters above ground level in a low tree, bush, or cactus. Roadrunner eggs are generally white. The greater roadrunner generally lays 2–6 eggs per clutch, but the lesser roadrunner's clutches are typically smaller.

The roadrunner is an opportunistic omnivore. Its diet normally consists of insects (such as grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and beetles), small reptiles (such as lizards and snakes, including rattlesnakes), rodents and other small mammals, spiders (including tarantulas), scorpions, centipedes, snails, small birds (and nestlings), eggs, and fruits and seeds like those from prickly pear cactuses and sumacs. The lesser roadrunner eats mainly insects. The roadrunner forages on the ground and, when hunting, usually runs after prey from undercover. It may leap to catch insects, and commonly batters certain prey against the ground. Because of its quickness, the roadrunner is one of the few animals that preys upon rattlesnakes, it is also the only real predator of tarantula hawk wasps.

Known to most of the world simply as a cartoon character, roadrunners are a remarkable desert specialist. They can spend an entire lifetime without drinking, obtaining all their water from their food, and can hunt and breed year-round in temperatures reaching 50°C.


#Wildlife #SonoraDesert #RattleSnake