Geococcyx californianus (MSB:Bird:49703)

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The Greater Roadrunner is an iconic bird in deserts of the American Southwest and adjacent Mexico, but it actually occurs across the southern half of the United States west of the Mississippi River, and throughout Mexico north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. A ground-dwelling cuckoo, they share the zygodactyl (x-shaped) foot morphology of their arboreal cuckoo cousins that live in clocks. Long, powerful legs, a long tail, and short rounded wings make roadrunners efficient, maneuverable predators that ambush prey mainly from the ground. They will eat anything they can swallow, including snakes, lizards, birds, small mammals, and large arthropods. Other resources: Animal Diversity Web Wikipedia Specimen: MSB:Bird:49703 (Division of Birds, Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico)