It may be the most familiar critter ever seen on television – more renowned than Woody Woodpecker, Big Bird, Smokey the Bear and Lassie combined.
The Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) has been on the silver screen for generations outpacing and outsmarting Wile E. Coyote as the famished canid unsuccessfully deploys any number of Acme products to catch the bird.
In real life, coyotes can run twice as fast as roadrunners and eat them they catch them – so much for beep-beep.
Roadrunners are large birds. Their streaky-brown-feathered, short-crested bodies measure two feet from the tip of their powerful bill to the end of their long tail. True to its name, the bird spends most of its time on the ground rather than in the air. It doesn’t fly well and does so sparingly.
The bird has two toes facing forward and two facing back, and as it walks it leaves a footprint in the shape of an x. It is thought the original people of the desert southwest believed the unique footprints left in the dirt by roadrunners would ward off evil spirits, but there is no mention in ancient lore of x ever marking the spot.
When racing in pursuit of prey or defending its territory, the bird runs low to and almost parallel with the ground. It prefers semi-open scrub habitat dotted with mesquite and creosote bushes, or grasslands and riparian woodlands. It avoids densely populated areas but will tolerate some development and open farmland.
Roadrunners rarely eat seeds or vegetation although they will, especially in the winter when their preferred prey may not be out and about. High up on their bill of fare are lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, insects, centipedes, scorpions and even other birds. Quick and agile, the bird can jump in the air to catch a flying insect, low-flying bat or even a hummingbird.
They can and sometimes will kill a rattlesnake by pecking it in the head and then swallowing it whole with whatever part of the snake that won’t fit down its throat left hanging from its mouth until the front end is digested. But killing rattlers happens less often than proclaimed. It’s hard work and there are fangs to be avoided.
While roadrunner populations in California have been declining during the past decades as human development increases there are still opportunities to see the bird without driving to the deserts of Arizona or Mexico.
The habitat at the base of the B.F. Sisk dam to San Luis reservoir and the surrounding foothills is prime for the bird. Roadrunners are often seen patrolling the grounds of the headquarters building for the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area on Gonzaga Road, in search of prey.
The Bureau of Land Management area off Panoche Road southwest of Los Banos also hosts a population of roadrunners as do areas of Henry W. Coe State Park. The bird’s range extends south and east over a vast area and is reported to be growing to include portions of Missouri.
Roadrunners don’t seem to mingle with the divers and dabblers in the waters of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex, but Wile E. Coyote and his buddies do. Get out of the house for a while and enjoy what Mother Nature is offering.
The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, Merced National Wildlife Refuge and the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge comprise the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Its headquarters and visitor center are located just north of Los Banos off Highway 165 at 7376 South Wolfsen Road.
The refuges are open to visitors daily from one half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset. The visitor center is open Monday through Friday except federal holidays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call the refuge visitor center at 209-826-3508, ext. 127 or check out the upcoming events on the website at fws.gov/refuge/san-luis.
