New Mexico State Bird
Greater Roadrunner

Official New Mexico State Bird Name: Roadrunner
American Ornithologists' Union Common Name: Greater Roadrunner
Family: Cuculidae, Cuckoos, Roadrunners, Anis
Scientific name: Geococcyx californianus
Length: 23" (58 cm)
Diet: Animals (90%), including insects, lizards, snakes, rodents, birds (especially passerines); fruit (especially cactus), seeds.
Voice: Listen to Roadrunner sounds (recorded by Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Meep Meep (just kidding!)
Song a slow, descending series of about six resonant, low-pitched coos: cooo cooo cooo cooo coo coo; weaker at end. Also a low, hollow, wooden clatter or rattle trrrt produced by bill.
Habitat: Common in scrub desert and mesquite groves; less common in chaparral and open woodland.
Displays: Male parades with head held high and stiff, wings and tail drooped; precedes male mating song. Male also bows, alternately lifts and drops wings while spreading tail.
Number of broods: 1, occasionally 2.
Nest: Usually in low tree, thicket, or cactus clump. Of sticks, lined with leaves, grass, feathers, mesquite pod, snakeskin, roots, and manure flakes. Occasionally atop woodrat nest.
Eggs: Averages 4-6 white eggs with chalky yellowish coat. 1.5" (39 mm).
Incubation period: 20 days
Fledge: 18 days after hatching
Longevity Record: 3 Years and 9 months (according to USGS Bird Banding Lab). They undoubtably live longer, but a banded bird has never been recaptured over a longer time span to prove it.