Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Cuculiformes > Cuculidae > Geococcyx > Geococcyx californianus

Geococcyx californianus (Greater Roadrunner)

Synonyms: Geococcyx californicus; Saurothera californiana (homotypic)
Language: Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

The greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from Southwestern United States and Mexico. The Latin name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along with the lesser roadrunner, it is one of two species in the roadrunner genus Geococcyx. This roadrunner is also known as the chaparral cock, ground cuckoo, and snake killer.
View Wikipedia Record: Geococcyx californianus

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
11
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
38
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 23.4246
EDGE Score: 3.19559
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  302 grams
Birth Weight [3]  14 grams
Female Weight [1]  286 grams
Male Weight [1]  319 grams
Weight Dimorphism [1]  11.5 %
Breeding Habitat [2]  Desert scrub, Agricultural
Wintering Geography [2]  Non-migrartory
Wintering Habitat [2]  Desert scrub, Agricultural
Diet [4]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Frugivore
Diet - Ectothermic [4]  20 %
Diet - Endothermic [4]  30 %
Diet - Fruit [4]  10 %
Diet - Invertibrates [4]  30 %
Diet - Scavenger [4]  10 %
Forages - Ground [4]  100 %
Female Maturity [3]  1 year
Male Maturity [3]  1 year
Clutch Size [5]  4
Clutches / Year [3]  2
Global Population (2017 est.) [2]  1,300,000
Incubation [3]  20 days
Mating System [6]  Monogamy
Maximum Longevity [3]  9 years
Speed [7]  19.864 MPH (8.88 m/s)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
California Floristic Province Mexico, United States No
Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands Mexico, United States No

Emblem of

New Mexico

Prey / Diet

Diadophis punctatus (Ringneck Snake)[8]
Lasiurus borealis (red bat)[9]
Neotoma micropus (southern plains woodrat)[10]
Sceloporus occidentalis (Pacific blue-bellied lizard)[8]
Tadarida brasiliensis (Brazilian free-tailed bat)[11]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Predators

Accipiter cooperii (Cooper's Hawk)[8]
Aquila chrysaetos (Golden Eagle)[8]
Cathartes aura (Turkey Vulture)[8]
Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald Eagle)[8]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Baylisascaris procyonis (raccoon roundworm)[12]
Echidnophaga gallinacea (sticktight flea)[13]

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 2Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2017. Accessed on January 2018.
♦ 3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 4Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 5Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 6Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 7Alerstam T, Rosén M, Bäckman J, Ericson PGP, Hellgren O (2007) Flight Speeds among Bird Species: Allometric and Phylogenetic Effects. PLoS Biol 5(8): e197. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050197
♦ 8Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 9Lasiurus borealis, Karl A. Shump Jr. and Ann U. Shump, Mammalian Species No. 183, pp. 1-6 (1982)
♦ 10Neotoma micropus, J. K. Braun and M. A. Mares, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 330, pp. 1-9 (1989)
♦ 11Tadarida brasiliensis, Kenneth T. Wilkins, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 331, pp. 1-10 (1989)
♦ 12Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
♦ 13International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0