Geococcyx

"Roadrunner" redirects here. For other uses, see Roadrunner (disambiguation).

Geococcyx
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cuculiformes
Family:	Cuculidae
Subfamily:	Neomorphinae
Genus:	Geococcyx Wagler, 1831
Species
G. californianus G. velox

The roadrunners are two species of bird in the genus Geococcyx of the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, native to North and Central America. These two species are the ground foraging cuckoos.

• Greater Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus (Mexico and southwestern United States)
  • Conkling's Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus conklingi - prehistoric
• Lesser Roadrunner, Geococcyx velox (Mexico and Central America)

Morphology

Roadrunner species generally range in size from 18 inches (46 cm) to 24 inches (61 cm) from tail to beak. The roadrunner is a large, slender, black-brown and white streaked ground bird with a distinctive head crest. It has long legs, strong feet, and an oversized dark bill. The tail is broad with white tips on the three outer tail feathers. The bird has a bare patch of skin behind each eye; this patch is shaded blue anterior to red posterior. The lesser roadrunner is slightly smaller, not as streaky, and has a smaller bill. The bird is terrestrial; although capable of flight, it spends most of its time on the ground. During flight, the wings are short and rounded and reveal a white crescent in the primary feathers. Roadrunners and other members of the cuckoo family have zygodactyl feet (two toes in front and two toes in back). Roadrunners can run at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) and generally prefer sprinting to flying. Roadrunners will fly to escape predators.

Vocalization

Greater roadrunners often become habituated to the presence of people, but this one was particularly approachable.

The roadrunner has a dove-like "coo" that is slow and descending. It also makes a rapid, vocalized clattering sound with its beak.

Ogg vorbis file of clattering sound made with beak.

• Link to a greater roadrunner call

Geographic range

The roadrunner is an inhabitant of the deserts of the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America.

• Habitat: Roadrunners live in arid lowland or montane scrub and are often widely dispersed in the dry open country with scattered brush.
• Migration: Roadrunners are non-migratory birds that reside in their breeding area all year.
• Link to a distribution map of the Greater Roadrunner from the Cornell lab of Ornithology

Food and foraging habits

Greater Roadrunner with a lizard

Roadrunners are omnivores and are opportunistic. Their diet normally consists of insects (such as grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and beetles), small reptiles (such as lizards and snakes, including rattlesnakes), rodents and small mammals, tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, snails, small birds, eggs, nestlings, and fruits and seeds like prickly pear cactus and sumac. The lesser roadrunner eats mainly insects. Roadrunners forage on the ground and, when hunting, usually run after prey from under cover. They may leap to catch insects, and commonly batter certain prey, such as snakes, against the ground.

Geococcyx is the only real predator of the tarantula hawk wasps.

Behavior and breeding

Roadrunners are commonly solitary birds or live in pairs. They are monogamous and a pair may mate for life. Pairs may hold a territory all year. During the courtship display, the male bows, alternately lifting and dropping his wings and spreading his tail. He parades in front of the female with his head high and his tail and wings drooped. It has also been documented that the male may bring an offering of food to the female.

• Nest: Roadrunners' nests are often on a platform nest composed of sticks (nests may sometimes contain leaves, snakeskins, or dung). The nest is commonly placed in a low tree, bush, or cactus.
• Clutch: Hatching is asynchronous and average a 2-6 egg clutch (the Lesser Roadrunners clutch size is typically smaller). Eggs are generally a white color.
• Parental care and sizes: Roadrunners have bi-parental care. Both sexes incubate the nest and feed the hatchlings, but males incubate the nest at night. For the first one to two weeks after the young hatch, one parent always remains at the nest. After the hatchlings are two to three weeks old they leave and never return to the nest. For a few days thereafter, the parents and young forage together.
• Reproductive Season: spring to mid-summer depending upon species and geographic location.

Thermoregulation

During the cold desert night, the roadrunner lowers its body temperature slightly, going into a slight torpor to conserve energy. To warm itself during the day, the roadrunner exposes dark patches of skin on its back to the sun.

In popular culture

• The Road Runner is a popular character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, distributed by Warner Bros.
• In the 2011 film Rango, the characters ride on road runners as a means of transportation.
• The Roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico.

References

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of BIRDS edited by Dr. Christopher M. Perrins ISBN 0-13-083635-4
• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia edited by Michael Hutchins ISBN 0-7876-5785-9
• Handbook of Birds of the World edited by Josep del Hoyo et al. ISBN 84-87334-22-9
• Smithsonian: Birds of North America by Fred J. Alsop III ISBN 0-7894-8001-8
• Harrison, George. 2005. Comical Cuckoo. Birder's World, 19:56-58.
• Meinzer, Wyman. 1993. Beep! Beep! Better pull over, folks-it's the roadrunner. Smithsonian, 23: 58

External links

Media related to Geococcyx at Wikimedia Commons

• naturefootage.com has video clips of roadrunners in action.