The greater roadrunner, a long-legged ground cuckoo of the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. It can fly a little but mostly runs, and pairs stay together for years. It is the largest cuckoo in the Americas.
Quick answers
What is it?Bird
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inNorth America
HabitatDesert, Scrub
ColoursBrown, White, Black
SizeSmall
Length52–62 cm
Weight221–538 g
Legs2
Covered inFeathers
Lives inpairs
Lives for7–8 years
Can fly
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- The southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
- What it eats
- Insects, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, mice, small birds, lizards and young rattlesnakes.
Did you know
Runs at up to 20 mph and eats scorpions, black widows and young rattlesnakes.
It usually runs at up to 20 mph (32 km/h), and has been reported at 26 mph, the fastest clocked for a bird that can fly.
Until about 8,000 years ago it lived in open forest rather than desert.
Often confused with
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