Greater Roadrunner Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Greater Roadrunners are large cuckoos with a distinctive shape: long legs, a very long, straight tail, and a long neck. The head has a short crest and the bill is long, heavy, and slightly downcurved.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Rock Pigeon; about the size (but more slender than) a Common Raven.

  crow-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 20.5-21.3 in (52-54 cm)
    • Weight: 7.8-19.0 oz (221-538 g)
    • Wingspan: 19.3 in (49 cm)

  © Lawrence Haller / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  They are tan or brown with extensive blackish streaking on the upperparts and chest. The crown is black with small, pale spots, and they have a patch of bare, blue skin behind the eye. The wings are dark with white highlights.

• Behavior

  Greater Roadrunners spend most of their lives on the ground hunting lizards, small mammals, and birds. They are very fast runners, leaning over parallel to the ground with their tails streaming behind them. They are weak fliers, but you may see them perched above the ground on fence posts and sometimes telephone wires.
• Habitat

  Greater Roadrunners are characteristic birds of the hot, shrubby expanses of the Desert Southwest. They aren’t restricted to deserts, though: look for them in open country with patches of shrubs or small trees almost as far east as the Mississippi River.