Exploring Nature: The Roadrunner

I don’t see as many roadrunners these days as I once did. Maybe this area is becoming too developed and urbanized.

And that would be a shame, because the greater roadrunner, Geococys californianus, is a handsome, noble bird. A member of the cuckoo family, it occurs throughout the Southwest, from Kansas to California and southward to central Mexico.

A slender, long-legged bird, it is capable of sprinting up to 15 miles per hour and flies only under duress. It eats darn near anything, including seeds and fruits, rodents, insects, spiders, scorpions and lizards.