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Project Noah Nature School
Geococcyx californianus
The road runner is about 20 to 24 inches long, has a wingspan of 17 to 24 inches and weighs 7.8 to 19.0 ounces. It stands around 9.8 to 12 inches tall and is the largest North American cuckoo. The adult has a bushy crest and a long thick dark bill. 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 foot, two face forward and two face backward. The name road runner comes from the birds habit of racing down roads in front of moving vehicles and then darting to safety in the brush.
The breeding habitat is desert and shrubby country in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Spotted on Jan 5, 2012
Submitted on Jan 12, 2012
9 Comments
@ Susan--great. Now that you have joined the mission, you can choose to edit your spotting in the top right corner and then you will find those missions in the drop-down box for missions. You can add up to five missions to be applied to this particular spotting.
Wow, lovely find.
Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. I did join the missions that were mentioned. I saw the bird next to my car and I just watched him for a while. We made eye contact and I was so excited when he jumped up on the mirror. What a surprise!
I would also recommend Birds of the World at: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/5033...
Very cool spotting! Looks like a great candidate for the Urban Biodiversity mission at: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/3501...
Wow, I have yet to catch one on camera and here you have one on your car mirror! Great spotting. Welcome to Project Noah!
What a cool photo. He doesn't really look happy to see you. :)
Great job capturing this image! He looks very inquisitive :) beep beep!
This is a great shot, it is one of the top ten "have to see" birds on my life list.