Greater roadrunner
Geococcyx californianus
Identification Tips:
- Large, long-legged, long-tailed cuckoo
- Spends much of its time on the ground
- Long, thick, dark bill
- Bushy crest
- Dark head is extensively spotted
- Blue patch of bare skin includes eye and is red at its rear margin in males(??
- Pale foreneck and upper breast with dark stripes
- Dark back and upperwing has extensive pale edgings creating striped appearance
- White bases to primaries show as a crescent on wing in flight
- Pale belly
- Long, dark tail with white tips to outer tail feathers
Similar species:
None