Greater roadrunner of New Mexico. Greater roadrunner 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. The roadrunner is about long, has a wingspan and weighs . It stands around tall and is the largest cuckoo of the Americas. Roadrunners have four toes on each zygodactyl foot; two face forward, and two face backward. The
Pallid cuckoo 1801 as "Columba pallida" "pale pigeon". Sources differ in the genera placement of this species. It is commonly placed in "Cuculus", but genetic evidence and its song support its placement in "Cacomantis", with its closest relative the white-crowned cuckoo ("Cacomantis leucolophus"). As of 2013, ITIS still listed the genus as "Cuculus". "Pallid cuckoo" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). Other common names include unadorned cuckoo, semitone-bird, scale-bird, and brain-fever bird—from its monotonous repetitive call. Characteristics of the appearance of the pallid cuckoo include: a dark bill, a dark eye with a gold eye-ring, a