Roadrunner
Description
Roadrunner is also known as the Chaparral bird. There're two species of Roadrunners. They are the Lesser Roadrunner and the Greater Roadrunner. Roadrunner is a large ground bird with long legs and strong feet. Roadrunner can run at speeds up to 32km/h. Roadrunners eat lizards, snakes, insects, eggs, small birds and dead animals. Roadrunner is an omnivorous bird.
Greater Roadrunner
Greater Roadrunner is a large ground bird lives in the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. Greater Roadrunner is also known as the Snake Killer. It is a bird born to run. Greater Roadrunners eat poisonous prey with no ill effect. Their Lifespan is about seven to eight years. Roadrunner is about 52- 62cm long and it weighs about 221-538g. Greater Roadrunner can run at speeds up to 30km/h. It spends most of its time on the ground. Greater Roadrunners eat spiders, mice, insects, lizards and small snakes. Greater Roadrunners lay 3-6 eggs and the eggs hatch in 20 days. Most of the time Roadrunners lay eggs in the nests of other birds. They start building nests in March.
Classification
Scientific name - Geococcyx Californianus
Order- Cuculiformes
Family- Cuculidae
Kingdom- Animalia
Class- Aves
Phylum - Chordata
Genus- Geococcyx
Distribution
They can be found in the Aridoamerica ecoregion, within the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
The threats to roadrunners are illegal shooting and habitat loosing.
Lesser Roadrunner
Lesser Roadrunner is also a large ground bird lives in Mesoamerica. Lesser Roadrunner is the sister species of Greater Roadrunner. Lesser Roadrunner feeds on seeds, fruits, small reptiles, frogs, small insects and grasshoppers. Their nests are smaller than the Greater Roadrunner's nest but Lesser Roadrunner's nest is stronger than Greater Roadrunner's nest. Lesser roadrunner also spend most of its time on the ground. It can run at speeds up to 32km/h. Lesser Roadrunner is about 46-51cm long. Their life span is from seven to eight years.
Classification
Scientific name - Geococcyx velox
Order- Cuculiformes
Family- Cuculidae
Kingdom- Animalia
Class- Aves
Phylum - Chordata
Genus- Geococcyx
Distribution
It is distributed along the west coast of Central America from northern Mexico south to Nicarauga.
Roadrunner was made popular by the Warner Bros by creating cartoon character Roadrunner in 1948.
