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
Common cuckoo name for the common cuckoo in northern England, derived from the harsh repeated ""gowk"" call the bird makes when excited. The well-known cuckoo clock features a mechanical bird and is fitted with bellows and pipes that imitate the call of the common cuckoo. Cuckoos feature in traditional rhymes, such as '"In April the cuckoo comes, In May she'll stay, In June she changes her tune, In July she prepares to fly, Come August, go she must,"' quoted Peggy. 'But you haven't said it all,' put in Bobby. '"And if the cuckoo stays till September, It's as much as the oldest