A member of the cuckoo family, the roadrunner measures 20 to 24 inches from beak to tail. The roadrunner's body is black with white speckles, and its head sports a distinctive crest above a comically large beak. A long tail trails behind the roadrunner, and it can run as fast as 15 miles per hour. The roadrunner's small, rounded wings are capable only of short, leaping flights. The roadrunner has two forward- and two backward-pointing toes, as is characteristic of all cuckoos.
At home in the open, rolling planes and dry scrubland of the southwestern United States, the roadrunner is uniquely adapted to its desert environment. The roadrunner gets most of its water from food, and specialized adaptations in its digestive tract reabsorb moisture from feces before excretion. Unlike most birds, the roadrunner eliminates excess salt through its nostrils. Roadrunners nest in low-lying shrubs and cactus, and lay two to 12 eggs per year.
Roadrunners are dedicated carnivores, but may resort to plant food if meat is scarce during the winter months. Their diet consists of lizards, insects, scorpions, tarantulas, snakes and smaller birds. They are adept hunters, quick enough to snatch a hummingbird or dragonfly out of midair. They are also one of the few animals to prey upon rattlesnakes. Using its wings as a matador uses a cape, the roadrunner baits the snake to strike, then seizes it by the tail and dashes its head against the ground.
As fast and skilled a hunter as the roadrunner is, its life is not without dangers. Eggs and nestlings often fall victim to the appetite of roving raccoons, skunks, rat snakes and bull snakes. The adult roadrunner's speed makes it a tough quarry, but it is occasionally prey to hawks, house cats and coyotes. More dangerous than predators are the desert winters. On a winter night, temperatures in the high desert can fall well below freezing, and many roadrunners freeze to death. In spite of these dangers, roadrunners maintain a healthy wild population and are not listed as an endangered species.