DRIPPING WILDLIFE: CUCKOO FOR CUCKOOS
Few birds bring a smile to our face like the aptly named roadrunner, who regularly can be seen darting across our Dripping Springs country roads. Maybe we're projecting all of our childhood cartoon perceptions onto this curious creature, but while working on house renovations, there was a roadrunner that would hang out with us every day and seemed to really be listening as we mindlessly chatted with him (her?). Plateau Land & Wildlife here in Dripping has a bird column that appears in the Bandera paper and they recently featured the roadrunner.
THIS IS FOR THE BIRDS: CUCKOO FOR CUCKOOS
by Plateau Land & Wildlife Management
For many of us, our cuckoo knowledge is limited to quirky clocks and Jack Nicholson movies. But cuckoos are actually members of a diverse order, Cuculiformes, of birds which includes nearly 135+ different species. Six species of the family Cuculidae live right here in Texas, including Greater Roadrunner, a common breeder on the Edwards Plateau. Few who live in the Hill Country have not seen this long, chicken-like bird running across, well, a road. The Greater Roadrunner is characterized by a long tail, light brown body which is heavily streaked, small crest on head, and a large heavy bill. Typically, roadrunners are found in arid to semi-arid scrub or chaparral habit, though their range is expanding into more wooded and even urban settings. Roadrunners are voracious predators of lizards, small mammals, small birds, and snakes; their diet even includes several venomous creatures such as scorpions, spiders, and rattlesnakes. While attributed a beep-beep in the land of cartoons, their song is actually a descending series of coos. Well-suited to our frequent droughts, roadrunners possess the unique feature of excreting excess salt through salt glands located in front of their eyes which allows them to withstand long periods without water. During the breeding season, roadrunners construct large nests of sticks and lay between 3-6 eggs. Typically, only one brood is hatched per year with a possibility of two in the southern portions of their range.
Photograph of Greater Roadrunner by Lee Kothmann.
THIS IS FOR THE BIRDS: CUCKOO FOR CUCKOOS
by Plateau Land & Wildlife Management
For many of us, our cuckoo knowledge is limited to quirky clocks and Jack Nicholson movies. But cuckoos are actually members of a diverse order, Cuculiformes, of birds which includes nearly 135+ different species. Six species of the family Cuculidae live right here in Texas, including Greater Roadrunner, a common breeder on the Edwards Plateau. Few who live in the Hill Country have not seen this long, chicken-like bird running across, well, a road. The Greater Roadrunner is characterized by a long tail, light brown body which is heavily streaked, small crest on head, and a large heavy bill. Typically, roadrunners are found in arid to semi-arid scrub or chaparral habit, though their range is expanding into more wooded and even urban settings. Roadrunners are voracious predators of lizards, small mammals, small birds, and snakes; their diet even includes several venomous creatures such as scorpions, spiders, and rattlesnakes. While attributed a beep-beep in the land of cartoons, their song is actually a descending series of coos. Well-suited to our frequent droughts, roadrunners possess the unique feature of excreting excess salt through salt glands located in front of their eyes which allows them to withstand long periods without water. During the breeding season, roadrunners construct large nests of sticks and lay between 3-6 eggs. Typically, only one brood is hatched per year with a possibility of two in the southern portions of their range.
Photograph of Greater Roadrunner by Lee Kothmann.
Posted by DSBabble.com at Wednesday, July 21, 2010 8:39 AM 
Categories: dripping wildlife
Tags: dripping springs greater roadrunner cuckoos texas
Categories: dripping wildlife
Tags: dripping springs greater roadrunner cuckoos texas
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