Greater Roadrunner
| Geococcyx californianus | Order: Cuculiformes | Family: Cuculidae (Cuckoos) |
This extraordinary and splendid bird is ever so much more than a fun cartoon character. Despite its habit of grabbing hummingbirds at feeding stations, and even at least once flycatching—taking off and grabbing a hummingbird on the wing!—seeing a roadrunner is always thrilling.
Even beyond its place in Saturday morning cartoons of old, it holds a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records:
Roadrunner: Fastest running flying bird. The fastest running bird in the world is the flightless ostrich, but the fastest-running flying bird is the North American roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), a predominantly ground-dwelling species of cuckoo native to the southwestern USA. When pursued by a car, it has been clocked at a highly impressive 42 km/hr (26 mph) over a short distance – a speed that even its famous cartoon counterpart would struggle to emulate!
Laura's Published Works
Radio Programs
- Flamingo Road, Part I 2023
- Laura’s Best Bird EVER! Chapter 4. Baby Joey and the Las Vegas Great-tailed Grackles 2018
- Liberty, American Style 2016
- Predation on Hummingbirds 2014
- Roadrunners, Part II 2011
- Roadrunners, Part I 2011
- Laura's Trip West 2007
- Birds in Public Art 2005
- Army Worms and Black-billed Cuckoos 2002
- Superlative Birds 1999
- State Birds 1999
- Superlative Birds 1995
- The Mirror Method 1995
- Winter Feathers 1994
- Lists 1991
- Bentsen State Park, and Crow Hunting Controversy 1988
- Black-billed Cuckoo 1988
- Birds in the News 1987
- Black-billed Cuckoo 1987
- The Superiority of Birds 1986