Darting through the thornscrub from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean is a charming bird known as the greater roadrunner. The inspiration for cartoons and mascots the world over, this two-foot-long bird is as famous as it is misunderstood. The greater roadrunner is also known as California ground cuckoo and chaparral bird. Let’s dive in to learn about real-life roadrunners!
General Information
The greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is a member of the cuckoo family (Cuculidae). This ground bird is about two feet in length. It has speckled brown and black feathers on its back and wings and a lighter throat and chest with dark stripes. It has long legs, a very long tail and yellow eyes.
Greater Roadrunners are best adapted to dry and open ecosystems, but they are adaptable animals that can live in many different habitats. They can be found everywhere from the pine forests of northern California to the swamps of the gulf coast, but they prefer scrubland, grassland, and desert environments. If you really want to see a greater roadrunner in the wild, your best chances will be in the Sonoran Desert, where they can best make use of their water-saving adaptations and speed. As the west continues to grow more arid, the roadrunner’s range is gradually extending north, only to be reduced annually by cold winters.
Adaptations for Survival
Even though roadrunners can fly, they don’t do it often, not even to migrate. They prefer to run and glide, and have small wings, so they can’t fly very well. When it is startled it will run rather than fly. It is a poor flyer but can run at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. This means they need to be prepared to survive within the Sonoran Desert - through the extreme heat of summer, the freezing cold of winter, and all the dry times in between.
On cold winter nights they go into torpor - a state where their body slows down and drops a couple of degrees, and their need for food is reduced. Think of this as an energy-saving mode for freezing nights; then when the sun rises, they spread their feathers and catch some rays to warm back up. An “energy-saving” mode for animals brought on by low temperatures or lack of food. They use less energy because their body temperature is lowered, and they do not process food as quickly.
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In the summer, they avoid the hottest part of the day altogether and become crepuscular instead of diurnal, meaning they’re active around dawn and dusk when the temperatures are more manageable. Being most active in the mornings and evenings. Active during the day and asleep at night.
Roadrunners also have a special gland that helps them excrete salt. Many seabirds have a similar gland, but in the case of the roadrunner, it helps them save water! By filtering excess salt out of the blood, this gland helps the bird’s kidneys not need to pee as much.
Dietary Habits
Greater roadrunners will eat almost anything they can catch, which is a long list! They are mainly carnivorous birds, and are natural born hunters. Even though they hunt about 90% of their food, roadrunners are opportunistic enough to eat plant materials like seeds and berries, making them omnivores. An organism that eats both plant and animal material.
Their prey includes insects, scorpions, spiders, tarantulas, and even small vertebrates like rodents, lizards, and snakes! They slam their prey on the ground to make sure it’s safe to eat and not still alive. If a snake caught by a roadrunner is too long to eat all at once, they will let it hang from their mouth, slowly slurping it up as they digest until it’s gone - kind of like slow-motion spaghetti!
Here at the dude ranch we often joke and describe them as little dinosaurs, but that’s a pretty accurate description. They jump and run around like a Velociraptor, and they make a clicking sound as they call out to mates. They sound just like the Velociraptors on Jurassic Park but at a lower pitch. Very often we see them catching small and large birds that drink out of our courtyard fountain. They sit very patiently and just wait for the unsuspecting bird to come and drink, then at the speed of a flash they pounce and either stab the larger birds with their pointy beaks or just catch the smaller ones with their claws and run away to eat them.
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Reproduction and Development
Baby roadrunners hatch in a clutch of 3-5, sometimes 2-6 eggs in a small nest just a few feet off the ground. White to pale yellowish. Roadrunner eggs have been reported in the nests of other birds, suggesting occasional brood parasitism like other birds in the Cuckoo group! A bird lays their eggs in a different bird’s nest and allows that bird to incubate and raise their hatchlings. Incubation is by both parents (male does more), about 20 days. Fed by both parents; leave the nest after about 18-21 days. May begin catching own food soon after leaving nest, but still fed by parents up to another 30-40 days. They’re fed by their parents for about 3 weeks. After that, they’re old enough to tag along with their parents and learn how to hunt and forage.
When greater roadrunners are 3 years old, they’re ready to start their own families. Males will present lizards to females, and if they accept, the two will spend the rest of their lives together. May mate for life, pairs defending territory all year. Courtship includes chases on foot, with frequent pauses to rest. One bird (either sex) approaches the other with stick or blade of grass, and drops it on the ground or gives it to other bird. In other displays, male runs away from female with tail and wings raised over back, gradually lowers wings; male wags tail from side to side while slowly bowing. They’ll work together to build the nest, catch the food, and teach their hatchlings to survive in the wild. Nest site is in dense bush, low tree, or cactus, usually 2-12' above ground, rarely on ground. Nest is platform of sticks, lined with grass, leaves, feathers, sometimes with snakeskin or pieces of cow manure.
Threats and Conservation
While these birds are incredible predators, they are nowhere near the top of the food chain! Large apex predators like hawks, bobcats, and coyotes have been known to prey upon adult roadrunners. Other species like raccoons are known to eat their eggs. Additionally, humans have brought domestic cats into the desert, and roadrunners are increasingly being killed by these critters like so many other native birds.
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