A Bird You Need to See: the Greater Roadrunner

I heard the sound first: a unusual clattering. I hadn’t even been in Arizona for twenty-four hours, however I would already realized sufficient of the soundscape behind our Phoenix Airbnb—the Verdins, the Cactus Wrens, the Abert’s Towhees—to know this was one thing totally different, one thing new. Was it even a chook? Our rental backed as much as a golf course, so from the fence I started scanning the brushy desert habitat that surrounded the plush inexperienced tee packing containers close by.

After which I immediately noticed it: A Larger Roadrunner zoomed into view and hopped atop one of the tee packing containers to survey its environment. I targeted my binoculars to get a greater take a look at the chook, a lifer for me, and that’s after I realized that its invoice was the supply of the clacking. Because it stood tall and inquisitively cocked its head backward and forward, the chook shortly and loudly clapped its slender beak collectively.  

I stood there astonished. First off, as a result of I did not know Larger Roadrunners rattled their payments to speak or warn off predators. But in addition as a result of, regardless of being a birder my entire life, I clearly was not ready to see this staple of the American southwest. It was greater than I anticipated—quite a bit greater. I imagined one thing extra the dimensions of a Northern Flicker or perhaps a Pileated Woodpecker, not the dimensions of a Chachalaca. And the pink and blue pores and skin patches on this male’s face had been extremely brilliant. From its jaunty lengthy tail to its mussy crest, this member of the cuckoo household was like no species I would seen earlier than. 

I tracked the chook because it raced off the tee field and thru the chaparral and different shrubbery searching for its subsequent meal—possibly a lizard, a snake, or perhaps a scorpion. And that’s when it struck me: Roadrunners look and transfer like trendy dinosaurs, as if they’re tapping into some long-lost remnant of velociraptor DNA. As soon as I’d made that connection, the concept was not possible to shake as I watched the seemingly primeval avian disappear out of sight. 

Though the chook was a primary for me, my pleasure far exceeded that of seeing a brand new chook. Virtually the entire birds I would seen since attending to Phoenix had been lifers, in any case, and lots of of them had been already new favorites—specifically these cheery Verdins, with their sunburst faces, and the Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, that are good birds so far as I am involved. 

However there’s one thing particular about seeing a roadrunner, and it’s laborious to place your finger on it. Possibly it’s the truth that so many people grew up figuring out this chook from standard tradition and cartoons, as inaccurate as the Looney Tunes model’s purple plumage and car-horn calls could be. Or possibly it’s simply the sheer thought of them—that these speedy desert dwellers able to hitting 15 mph and with simple dinosaur vibes exist within the first place. No matter it’s, the singular sense of awe they evoke is simple. 

It’s been eight years since that encounter, and I haven’t seen a roadrunner since. If I’m fortunate, I’ll see many extra in my lifetime, however that morning will all the time stand out as one in all my most memorable birding moments. A few of these recollections are outlined by the chase or the search. Others by who I used to be with. However this one was neither—it was all in regards to the sheer awesomeness of the chook itself. And for that cause, the Larger Roadrunner isn’t only a chook everybody must see no less than as soon as, but it surely’s a chook I do know I’ve to see once more.