A member of the Cuckoo Family:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geococcyx

]]> http://www.thesquirrelcam.com/2012/01/10/road-runner-2/feed/ 0 http://www.thesquirrelcam.com/2012/01/07/young-road-runner/ http://www.thesquirrelcam.com/2012/01/07/young-road-runner/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:04:24 +0000 Databrokers http://www.thesquirrelcam.com/?p=4536 Water is the Draw

This young road runner showed up at the feeder yesterday, I don’t think he has been around before.  He spent a great deal of time at the water dish and even came back twice over the afternoon.

I love to catch them at the water dish.  It’s makes for a good photograph with droplets of water falling every time.

Water drops are shaken off at the old watering hole

He’s keeping a close of an eye on me as I am on him.

I just washed it and I can’t do a thing with it.

Sometimes, I learn much by just looking out my window on the world.  Yesterday, was a learning experience in watching this road runner consume a small bird.  I was watching out the window when this small sparrow was acting very sick.  Over the next hour or so, the small bird passed away.  It wasn’t too long after that when the road runner showed up.  He removed most of the wing feathers, tail feathers and most of the downy feathers that he could remove.  Then he commenced to swallow the bird head first whole.  If you would like to see the series of photos I took of this, go to my flickr page.

I never knew that Road Runners would take other birds for consumption.  Today was another example I’ve seen since I’ve been here in the high desert.  This road runner has caught a small house finch  and she is fighting for her life.  I’m afraid she lost the fight.

When it’s cool in the morning these birds will sit in the sun and fluff up to catch the rays.

They are a very pretty bird