The road runner, also known as the greater roadrunner, is a large cuckoo bird found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. With its distinctive appearance, amusing antics, and famous “beep beep” call, the road runner is one of the most well-known birds in North America. But what does this iconic bird actually look like in real life? Read on to learn more about the road runner’s physical characteristics, behavior, habitat, and more.
Physical Description
Size
Road runners are relatively large birds, measuring about 20-24 inches (50-60 cm) from head to tail. Their wingspan ranges from 17-24 inches (43-60 cm). An average road runner weighs around 8-15 oz (220-425 g). Males tend to be slightly larger than females. The road runner has a slender, long-tailed silhouette and an elegant profile when stationary.
Plumage
The road runner’s plumage is designed to perfectly blend into its desert surroundings. The bird’s back and wings are brown with black streaks and white spots, providing camouflage against the sandy desert floor. Its underparts are white with black streaks down the throat. The road runner has a long black tail with white tips on the outer tail feathers. The head is brown with a shaggy crest and black stripes above and below the eye. The strong black bill is slightly downcurved. The bird’s toes are incredibly long to help it run across the desert sand.
Tail
One of the road runner’s most distinguishing features is its long, black tail. The tail accounts for over half the bird’s total body length. It uses its tail constantly while running for balance. When standing still, the road runner often cocks its tail up at an angle, showing off the white outer tail feathers. It sometimes fans out the tail feathers like a peacock. During courtship displays, the male will raise and spread his tail to impress prospective mates.
Sound
The famous “beep beep” call associated with the road runner is actually made by Greater roadrunner chicks when begging for food from their parents. Adult road runners communicate with a series of coos, clucks, whirrs, and other vocalizations. They make a loud, repeated descending dove-like coo that can be heard from far away. When threatened, the roadrunner emits a rattling whirring sound and will strike the ground with its bill.
Behavior
Diet
Road runners are carnivorous and feed mainly on insects, spiders, scorpions, snails, small lizards, snakes, rodents, and other small animals. Using their strong legs, road runners can run down prey at speeds of up to 20 mph. They often outrun notoriously quick rattlesnakes with ease. Road runners are also known to eat the eggs and young of small ground-nesting birds. The road runner has a vacant stare, but once it spots prey, its head bobs up and down with lightning fast reactions as it focuses in on the target.
Hunting
Road runners hunt by walking and running through open areas, scanning the ground for movement. When they spy prey, they cock their tail up, freeze, and then strike with their big bill. They’ve developed a unique hunting technique called “foot trembling”, wherein they vibrate one foot at high speeds to flush out hidden prey. Road runners are sturdy enough to kill and swallow rattlesnakes whole. They kill the snake by holding it above the ground and repeatedly smashing its head. The road runner’s digestive system is resistant to venom. If bitten, they are sometimes seen foaming at the mouth until the venom passes through.
Running
As their name implies, road runners spend most of their time on the ground, running across the landscape at high speeds. Their long legs and tail provide balance and stability when running. They can reach sprinting speeds of 15-20 mph and can maintain steady speeds of 10 mph for long distances. At slower speeds, the road runner has a distinctive gait with an exaggerated up-and-down motion. When running quickly after prey, its motion switches to a straight horizontal run. The roadrunner can suddenly change direction or speed without stumbling. It has zygodactyl feet—two toes face forward and two back—to help grip the ground.
Flight
Despite being in the cuckoo family, road runners prefer running to flying and rarely take flight. They can only fly for short distances up to 100 yards and prefer to run when escaping predators. Their flight is weak and fluttering due to their small wings relative to body size. They may fly briefly to reach a perch or cross obstacles. But most of their time is spent on the ground sprinting down prey. When taking off, they use a burst of rapid wing flaps to launch themselves into the air.
Thermoregulation
Road runners have adapted some unique techniques to stay cool in the hot desert climate. They gape to regulate their body temperature—opening their bill and panting to evaporate moisture and cool down. Roadrunners secrete salt through glands above their eyes when temperatures spike. They spread the salt around their bill which may help absorb moisture from the air when gaping to cool down. Their legs have bare patches that may help with thermoregulation. During the hottest midday hours, roadrunners take shelter in the shade of plants to avoid overheating.
Miscellaneous
– Roadrunners bathe in dust, spreading dust and soil through their feathers to clean themselves and possibly to absorb oils. They are also known to “ant” by lying in an anthill and allowing ants to swarm over them. This may help keep their plumage clean and free of parasites.
– When threatened, the roadrunner may freeze into an erect, upright pose with its body supported on its toe-tips. This makes it look more intimidating and allows it to scan all around for dangers.
– Roadrunners can run at 18 miles per hour 13 feet high up a wall and essentially run up and down trees vertically. This helps them escape predators and access food sources like bird and lizard eggs in trees.
Habitat
Natural Range
The roadrunner inhabits the deserts and arid scrublands of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Its range extends west to California and north to central Kansas. It is well-adapted to living in hot, dry regions. Roadrunner populations are centered in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, but they can live in a variety of habitats within their large range.
Deserts
Roadrunners thrive in desert habitats including creosote bush desert scrub, sandy washes, alluvial fans, desert grasslands, and saltbush flats. They avoid dense, tall vegetation and prefer open areas with sparse shrubs and short grasses. This allows them to spot prey while running. Deserts provide an abundance of insects, lizards, snakes, and small mammals for roadrunners to feed on. They blend in perfectly with their sandy brown desert surroundings.
Chaparral
In California, roadrunners inhabit the hot, dry chaparral habitat. Chaparral is made up of woody shrubs, oak trees, and some grasses. It receives more rainfall than deserts. Roadrunners can find cover in the low shrubs while still being able to scan open spaces between vegetation for prey.
Suburbs
Thanks to their adaptability, roadrunners have also learnt to thrive in suburban neighborhoods, parks, and gardens within their range. They take advantage of prey like insects, lizards, and rodents attracted to irrigated yards. As long as there is ground cover for hunting and bushes for refuge, roadrunners can occupy semi-urban areas quite successfully. They provide an entertaining presence for residents.
Breeding
Mating
Roadrunners form breeding pairs during the spring mating season between March and June. Courtship displays begin in late winter. The male bows and coos repeatedly while showing off his tail feathers and puffing out his plumage. He offers food gifts to the female to demonstrate his ability to provide for the family. Once bonded, pairs remain monogamous and may stay together for multiple years. Both parents share equally in incubating the eggs and raising the young.
Nest
The nest is a sparse platform of sticks constructed 2-15 feet above ground in a bush, cactus, or small tree. Roadrunner nests are exposed for easy access. Sometimes they even take over old crow, hawk, or squirrel nests. The female lays 2-6 white eggs over several days in late April or May.
Incubation & Chicks
The parents take turns incubating the eggs for about 20 days before they hatch. The white chicks are covered in fluffy down. Both parents feed the chicks by regurgitating food and forage up to a mile away from the nest to gather enough provisions. The chicks leave the nest at 18 days old but continue to follow their parents around to beg for food for awhile longer. They grow quickly and can hunt small prey by 6 weeks old.
Interesting Facts
Myths
– Roadrunners cannot actually say “beep beep”—this sound is made by their chicks when begging for food.
– They do not leave visible trails of puffs of smoke or dust when running, as portrayed in cartoons. Their incredible running speed needs no visual exaggeration!
Record Speeds
– The roadrunner is one of the fastest running birds, capable of reaching 20 mph and sustaining speeds of 10 mph for nearly a mile. For its size, its speed is comparable to that of a human running at 220 mph!
Smart Hunters
– Roadrunners are intelligent and adaptive hunters that use a variety of clever techniques to catch prey, like foot trembling to startle hidden lizards. Different roadrunners develop their own unique hunting strategies.
Staying Cool
– Roadrunners have special physiological adaptations to help them stay cool and hydrated in the desert, such as secreting salt from their eyes and allowing ants to swarm over them. Their heat tolerance allows them to hunt effectively even in the hottest midday temperatures.
Acrobatics
– The roadrunner can run straight up vertical surfaces like trees to reach bird nests up to 13 feet high. They have incredible balance, agility and grip strength in their zygodactyl feet.
Classification
– Roadrunners are members of the cuckoo family (Cuculidae) despite not resembling most cuckoos or acting like brood parasites. DNA evidence shows they belong to the Neomorphinae subfamily of ground cuckoos.
Namesake
– Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse’s nemesis the Road Runner after the greater roadrunner. But the cartoon roadrunner’s giant legs and head crest actually more closely resemble the lesser roadrunner.
Population Status
The roadrunner has an extensive range across the southwestern U.S. and Mexico and is evaluated as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are common to abundant within their habitat. Their populations appear to be stable, and they are not endangered. They may face some threats from habitat loss and fragmentation in certain areas as human development expands into their arid wildernesses. But the adaptable roadrunner has shown an ability to occupy suburbs and parks as long as they provide sufficient cover and prey. This iconic bird remains a classic symbol of the American southwest.
Conclusion
With its lanky build, long legs and tail, streaky brown plumage, shaggy crest, and constantly cocked tail, the greater roadrunner is unmistakable as it races across the deserts of the southwest hunting lizards and snakes. Capable of reaching 20 mph, roadrunners are truly built for speed and perfectly adapted to thrive in hot, arid habitats where they occupy an important ecological niche. Their clownish appearance and speedy antics will continue to amuse and delight the residents of the areas they inhabit, whether wild deserts or bustling suburbs. The roadrunner deserves its fame as one of the most iconic and well-loved birds of the American southwest.
