Roadrunners
I have now been in New Mexico for over five years. I have yet to see a roadrunner. The greater roadrunner, a member of the cuckoo family, is the state bird of New Mexico and I want to see one.
They are solitary birds, only meeting up for mating. They mate for life, seeking out the same mate each spring.
Roadrunners make a cooing sound that often sounds like a mourning dove. We hear that cooing call all the time around us and we think it is pigeons. But could those cooing sounds be nearby roadrunners? Where are they?
Roadrunners love to run, just like they do in Chuck Jones cartoons. They can reach 20 miles per hour. They can fly a little bit, but mostly remain on the ground where they are fierce predators, going after snakes, lizards, mice and scorpions. They eat hummingbirds. They eat carrion too.
Why haven't I seen one?
At bookgroup recently I complained about the lack of roadrunner sightings, and everyone chimed in with "oh, I have one that sits on my wall" or "just go down to such and such an arroyo, there they are" and "goodness, they are all along the highway" and more. Not helpful.
When I moved to New Mexico I kinda thought I'd see a version of Wile E. Coyote chasing the smarter, elusive roadrunner over and over. The reality is that coyotes are way faster than roadrunners and the roadrunner doesn't fare well when a coyote wants one for dinner. So much for the cartoons.
They are not shy. Joggers and walkers report that genial roadrunners sometimes accompany them on their routes. They are not camera shy.
With its goofy prehistoric Jurassic Park look, its seductive coo, and its place in the iconic cartoon images of my youth, the roadrunner begs to be seen. It's here. It's New Mexico's bird. I'm probably hearing them coo all around us.
So why haven't I seen one?
Comments