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Greater Roadrunner

Geococcyx californianus ORDER: CUCULIFORMES FAMILY: CUCULIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

The Greater Roadrunner is a signature bird of the desert Southwest. During the 20th century, its range expanded all the way to southern Missouri and western Louisiana. A ground-dwelling cuckoo, it feeds on snakes, scorpions, and any other small animal it can catch and subdue.

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Calls

  • Call, rattle
    Recorded by Arthur A. Allen
  • Male coo
    Recorded by Terri Gallion
  • Female bark
    Recorded by Terri Gallion
  • Growl coo
    Recorded by William W. H. Gunn
    Texas January 1994
    • Courtesy of Macaulay Library
    © Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Does not go "beep-beep"! Call is a downward slurring "co-coo-coo-coo-cooooo." Also a clattering "whirrrr" call.

Search the Macaulay Library online archive for more sounds and videos