Birds · Cuculiformes · Cuculidae
Greater Roadrunner
Geococcyx californianus
Least Concern
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
The greater roadrunner is a long-legged ground cuckoo with a very long tail that would rather run than fly. It reaches 30 kilometres an hour chasing lizards, snakes, insects and rodents. It is extraordinarily well adapted to the desert: it gets water from its prey, excretes excess salt through a nasal gland and spends cold nights in torpor, warming itself in the morning sun with black back feathers that it exposes like solar panels.
Weight
220 g – 540 g
Size
52 cm – 62 cm
Life expectancy
8 years
