Here Comes The Roadrunner (Beep Beep!)
By Andrew Johnson
21 Jun 2008
Like most people, my first experience with roadrunners was on TV. As a kid, I remember watching the Chuck Jones cartoons, laughing as the Coyote's latest Acme product blew up in his face. Because of these cartoons, everyone knows about roadrunners, but not as many have actually seen one.
For me that changed when I moved to Arizona. Now, I'm used to the sight of roadrunners moving through my back yard. I have yet to see one run at top speed, but they can still walk at a good pace (particularly when some guy with a camera is following them). Despite living here for more than a decade, I still find them fascinating.
The Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is a large ground dwelling member of the cuckoo family. A formidable predator, the roadrunner can achieve speeds up to 15 miles per hour. While they can fly, they prefer to remain on the ground. I only ever saw one fly once after it had caught a lizard. It took to the air over the neighbor's yard to keep its latest catch to itself.
In addition to lizards, roadrunners will eat pretty much anything it can catch, including insects, other birds, and snakes. Quite a different picture from the birdseed the coyote would always use as bait in the cartoons.
Also, roadrunners never go beep beep. They are actually very quiet, only occasionally making a 'brrt' noise that sounds more like a purr than anything else.
These pictures were all just roadrunners who were passing by my house.
1 response
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Keith de Solla gave props (3 Jun 2009):
very cool. thanks for sharing.
