Meep meep! Learn all about the greater roadrunner, including where to find this bird, how fast it can run, and the many types of food a roadrunner eats.
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What Does a Greater Roadrunner Bird Look Like?
If you’ve spotted a greater roadrunner, you’re not likely to mistake it for anything else. Often seen running near roads and paths, it cuts a recognizable silhouette throughout its range in the South.
Approximately the size of a common raven (but notably thinner), recognize a greater roadrunner from its large crest, long legs, and long, thin beak. Its tail sticks out far beyond its body, and its plumage is a speckled black and brown along the back and wings with cream along the breast.
During breeding season, birders might glimpse red and blue skin extending behind the eyes. Males and females are identical, and they mate for life.
This bird is in the cuckoo family. In fact, the scientific name (Geococcyx californianus) translates to California earth or ground cuckoo.
Roadrunner Bird Range and Habitat
Finding a greater roadrunner means taking a trip to the Southwest. Many southern states, including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, see roadrunners year-round. Their range also extends into Mexico.
These birds prefer open country or brushlands, including desert habitats. Amusingly, some birders have reported spotting them in parking lots, where they’re likely in search of a snack.
Can Roadrunners Fly?
True to its name, a greater roadrunner is more skilled on land than in the air. They prefer running to flying. This bird mainly flies short distances from perch to perch or to the ground. Spotting one will usually mean glimpsing it sprinting across the ground.
They can run at speeds of up to 26 miles per hour.
Diet: What Does a Greater Roadrunner Eat?
Roadrunners eat a wide variety of foods, including insects, lizards, and even berries. This, however, doesn’t begin to cover the number of entrees on these birds’ menu: it’ll snag mice, ground squirrels, other small birds, and scorpions. The bird will even kill and eat a rattlesnake, although this endeavor often requires assistance from another roadrunner bird.
“What do roadrunners eat in cold weather?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Ed Tate of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman say, “Roadrunners are the ultimate opportunistic eaters. Their diets are incredibly varied, ranging from insects and lizards to small mammals. Family groups sometimes hunt cooperatively to stalk larger prey, like rattlesnakes. In cold weather, when insects and reptiles are hard to find, roadrunners live mainly on rodents and small birds. Roadrunners show little fear of humans and have been known to eat pet food left outdoors.”
Nesting Habits
Roadrunners nest in bushes, cacti, and trees. Male roadrunners build the nest and perform most incubation duties. Female lays between three and five eggs, and young hatch after about three weeks.
After another three weeks, the young are ready to leave the nest.
Did you know the greater roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico?
Calls and Sounds
Many know the iconic “meep meep!” of the classic roadrunner cartoon character, but, perhaps predictably, real greater roadrunners don’t make that noise. They give a variety of calls, including a series of low cooing notes and bill rattles or clacks.
Bird sounds courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Greater Roadrunner: Life History“
- National Audubon Society, “Field Guide: Greater Roadrunner“
