The lesser roadrunner (''Geococcyx velox'') is a large, long-legged bird that is a member of the

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

family, Cuculidae. It is found in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

. Its Latin name means "swift earth-cuckoo". Along with the

greater roadrunner The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along wi ...

, it is one of two species in the genus '' Geococcyx''.

Description

The lesser roadrunner is a slender bird that reaches a length of 46 to 51 cm (18 in), the tail itself accounting for about . Its average length is . The male weighs , while the female weighs . The

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

, crest and

neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...

of the lesser roadrunner are black with a bronze glow and small light brown spots. The back neck is black-brown, with feathers are lined with a pale brown, so that a brown-white dashes arises. The plumage of the upper body is dark brown with light speckles and lightens to maroon towards the rump, and its breast is white. The

rectrices Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the Bird wing, wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those ...

are black with a dark purple luster. Young roadrunners resemble adults, but have ocher-colored lines, and duller skin around the eye. The iris is yellow to brown, with a yellow to silvery-white ring surrounding the pupil. The eye ring is pale lavender to bright blue. The area behind the eye extends to a narrow band that turns into a bright red color on the neck, which is mostly covered by feathers. The upper beak is gray, while the lower beak is bluish-gray. The lesser roadrunner resembles the

(''Geococcyx californianus'') in appearance and habit but is smaller, with a less streaked throat and chest, brownish on the rump and on the outer wings and yellowish undersides. The lesser roadrunner also has a significantly shorter bill.

Habitat

The lesser roadrunner occurs in arid

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...

s of

up to in altitude. It inhabits open ground areas, with scrub and thorny bushes. They can be found in higher elevations of

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

es such as Conchagua, San Miguel, Santa Ana and

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

, in semi-open areas above the treeline. They also adapt to cultivated land such as

henequen ''Agave fourcroydes'' or henequen is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is reportedly naturalized in Madeira, Italy, the Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Cayman I ...

and

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

fields. Its breeding range is in southwestern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, north into the western side of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

range, along with northern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and a disjunct range in the northern

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

. It overlaps with the range of the greater roadrunner in a small area in the states of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

, and

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

Behavior

The lesser roadrunner can run up to . It spends most of its time on the ground, running in open areas, along roads or under cover. and is capable of limited flight, perching in bushes or low trees. Roadrunners bask in the early morning, on a fence post or bush. They cock their tail and droop their wings, then turn their back towards the sun, raising the scapular feathers and exposing their black skin which absorbs heat. They may preen themselves as well. The bird's call is a series of soft "cooing", about one note per second, made three to seven times on a descending scale.

Diet

The lesser roadrunner is an opportunistic feeder, which eats seeds, fruit, small

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

and

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

. It forages around roadsides for large

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

and

roadkill Roadkill is a wild animal that has been killed by collision with motor vehicles. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how they can be mitigated. History Essenti ...

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

s make up a significant portion part of its diet, as do

caterpillars Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

Nesting

Breeding is reported from

between April and July, and in

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

in August. The lesser roadrunner builds its nest in a low tree, a thorn bush or an ''

Opuntia ''Opuntia'', commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers. Cacti are native to the Americas, and are well adapted to arid clima ...

'' cactus, about off the ground. Its eggs, which are white and in length, are laid in clutches of 2 to 4. Their nests are smaller than those of the greater roadrunner, but are stronger and more compact, built in the shape of a cup with sturdy grass stems and twigs, with a diameter of . Both male and female roadrunners incubate. Lesser roadrunner clutches show less variation in size than those of the greater roadrunner, and from observation, all eggs appear to hatch around the same time.

References

External links

Photo-(bird running-HIGH RES)
"Birds of Honduras"

VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q1272222 lesser roadrunner Birds of Mexico Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental Birds of Central America Birds of Guatemala Birds of El Salvador Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua lesser roadrunner