Greater Roadrunner

Description:

This bird was hunting what looked like grasshoppers on a hot day. You can see it run and jump to catch its prey in the video. "It stands around 25–30 cm (9.8–12 in) tall and is the largest North American cuckoo. The adult has a bushy crest and long thick dark bill. The upper body is mostly brown with black streaks and sometimes pink spots. The neck and upper breast are white or pale brown with dark brown streaks, and the belly is white. It has a long dark tail, a dark head and back, and is blue on the front of the neck and on the belly. Roadrunners have four toes on each zygodactyl foot; two face forward, and two face backward. The roadrunner is about 52–62 cm (20–24 in) long, has a 43–61 cm (17–24 in) wingspan and weighs 221–538 g (7.8–19.0 oz). " - Wikipedia

Habitat:

Grass and coastal scrub. The first image was taken at Daley Ranch and the remaining images and video were from Lake Hodges. Both were within hours of each other.

Notes:

"This bird walks around rapidly, running down prey. It mainly feeds on insects, fruit and seeds with the addition of small reptiles, including snakes, small mammals, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, small birds, their eggs, and carrion, including roadkills. It kills larger prey with a blow from the beak—hitting the base of the neck of small mammals—or by holding it in the beak and beating it against a rock. Two roadrunners sometimes attack a relatively big snake cooperatively." - Wikipedia