Road Runner in Baja

[makobob]

Beep, beep, Roadrunner the Cuckoo bird of Baja,
by Makobob
A road runner will mate for LIFE. They reach lengths of about 2 feet, beak to tail.
A member of the cuckoo family. They have a top speed of over 15 mph.

Food consists of lizards, insects, scorpions, mice, small birds and snakes. They also
eat fruits and seeds. They can fly short distances but spend most of their day on the
ground. Lizards are a favorite food.

Lizards seem to almost fly over the hot desert sands. Our favorite bird can outpace
them. The diet of the road runner contains enough moisture that he does not need to
drink water his whole life. Excess salt is ejected through glands near his eyes.

The nest is a raised platform made from sticks. Usually built by the female a few
feet off the ground in a cactus or desert shrub. The male supplies the sticks, and
the female does the actual construction. The nest is lined with everything from
feathers to snake-skin to cow manure.

Between 2-6 white to pale yellow eggs are laid in the nest. They hatch out in less
than three weeks. Chicks are fledged in another three weeks. Mom and dad will
feed them for about another month. Then they are able to forage for themselves.

The myth of road runner outrunning Mr Coyote is just that, a myth. To escape he
needs to get off the ground and into a tall shrub or cactus. The coyote is twice as
fast and has moore endurance. Last year was wet for our area of Baja.

That meant moore food was available. There were two road runner family's running
around in our part of paradise. It is nice to sea them in the area. However they are
tough on the local quail populations.

For them catching a baby quail is just a walk in the park. After the quail can fly it is
a different story. Up, up and away. Then our road runner once again has to run for
his food. Lizards, lizards and moore lizards. I cannot seem to catch them but he sure
can. Tight Lines and thank you for following us at mako-ville.