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
Striped cuckoo Striped cuckoo The striped cuckoo ("Tapera naevia") is a near-passerine bird, the only member of the genus "Tapera". This resident cuckoo is found from Mexico and Trinidad south to Bolivia and Argentina. The striped cuckoo is found in open country with trees or shrubs, and the edges of mangrove forests. It is among the very few brood parasitic cuckoos of the Americas (only other are "Dromococcyx"), and typical hosts are spinetails, but often also wrens, and other species with domed nests. The female cuckoo lays one, sometimes two, white or bluish eggs in the host's large stick nest. The eggs