Birds · Cuculiformes · Cuculidae

Greater Roadrunner

Geococcyx californianus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

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

Lifespan

8 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

DesertGrasslandCarnivore Omnivore Diurnal In pairs Bird Desert Grassland

2countries 8parks4same family

Fun facts

It recharges in the sun: in the morning it raises its back feathers and exposes a patch of black skin beneath them to direct sunlight, a biological solar panel that lets it recover its body temperature after a night in torpor without spending energy.
It kills rattlesnakes by beating them against the ground and swallows them whole, leaving the tail hanging from its beak while the swallowed part digests.
It does not go meep meep: its real call is a low, descending coo like a dove's, and the cartoon sound is an invention of the Warner studios.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Scrub desert, chaparral and arid grassland of the south-western United States and Mexico
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 20 days
Litter / clutch size: 4

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/