Geococcyx californianus
Geococcyx californianus
Roadrunner picture courtesy of Bill Horn http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net |
Name: Roadrunner |
| Scientific name: Geococcyx californianus | |
| Range: North America,Chaparral, desert scrub, and other arid brush in the west and southwestern United States. | |
| Habitat: The Roadrunner inhabits open, flat or rolling terrain with scattered cover of dry brush, chaparral or other desert scrub. | |
| Status: Not threatened | |
| Diet in the wild: insects, crickets, grasshoppers,
caterpillars,ants
beetles, micelizards,snakes, |
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| Diet in the zoo:mice, bees,insects | |
| Location in the zoo: Texas Wild |
Physical description:
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| General information:
The legendary Roadrunner is famous for its distinctive appearance, its ability to eat rattlesnakes and its preference for scooting across the American deserts, as popularized in WB cartoons.The Roadrunner is a large, black-and-white, mottled ground bird with a distinctive head crest. It has strong feet, a long, white-tipped tail and an oversized bill. |
| Special anatomical, physiological
or behavioral adaptations: When the Roadrunner senses danger or
is traveling downhill, it flies, revealing short, rounded wings with a
white crescent. But it cannot keep its large body airborne for more than
a few seconds, and so prefers walking or running (up to 17 miles per hour)
usually with a clownish gait.
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Roadrunner picture courtesy of Bill Horn http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net |
| Comments about the roadrunners of the Fort Worth Zoo:
There are 3 roadrunners at Texas WIld, 2 females and 1 male. 
Roadrunner picture courtesy of A.Wilson U.S Geological Survey |
| Personal Observations:
The Roadrunner makes a series of low, dovelike coos dropping in pitch, as well as a clattering sound by rolling mandibles together. The Roadrunner has a long, graduated tail carried at an upward angle and long stout legs. From what I have seen at the Fort Worth Zoo, roadrunners seem to spend most of their time running on the ground and watching their surroundings. |
| Source Materials and Related Links:
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