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What is a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

What is a Greater Roadrunner

Greater Roadrunner Overview

Can run up to 18 mph (30 km/h).

They will attack, kill and eat small rattlesnakes, but it is not immune to their poison, so must hunt carefully.

The roadrunner’s comical gait, its erectile crest, and perky tail movements combine to make this bird a humourous desert character whose antics entertain in film cartoons as well as in the wild.

What is a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) (1)

Photo courtesy of Nikki Zahn Miller of Nevada Lovers Group

Taxonomy

Greater Roadrunner – Geococcyx californianus

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Cuculiformes
  • Family: Cuculidae
  • Genus: Geococcyx
  • Species: G. californianus

Size and Body Description

Crested head with a long, heavy bill.

Runs very rapidly on the ground or makes great leaps and bounds but only low, short bursts of flight.

Color: dark brown, heavily streaked with black and white; light brown underside, with brown streaks on breast.

 
What is a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) (1)

Photo courtesy of Nikki Zahn Miller of Nevada Lovers Group

Length

Slender bird, 20 to 24 inches (61 cm) long.

Diet

Reproduction

Range

Throughout the southwestern United States to Mexico.

Where Found

Creosote Bush Scrub to open Pinyon-Jupiter Woodland

How Long do Greater Roadrunner Live

Greater Roadrunner Diet

Lizards (80% of diet), insects, snakes, baby birds, and rats.

Water Sources

Protection

Colorings aids in absorbing heat during winter, conserving bird’s energy resources when food is scarce.

Breeds in spring, when supply of prey becomes adequate.

Carnivorous diet supplies moisture, and can reabsorb water from feces before excreting.

Nasal gland removes excess salt from water produced in this process.

FAQ

Related Content

Additional Photos

References Used

 

Great Roadrunner

What is a Greater Roadrunner

a cute roadrunner in the arizona desert

What is a Greater Roadrunner