Dispatches from a Desert Isle: Roadrunners

No no no no no!!!

It's NOT just a cartoon!

(also, not really called Accelerati Incredibilis)

It's...

(drumroll, please...)

The Roadrunner!

Geococcyx californianus

Wait, Geococcyx WHAT?

Where does this thing live anyway?

This looks a lot like it, doesn't it?
(It's Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, AZ)

That's right, Arizona. So why is it called "californianus"?
(secondary question: why anus?)

Well, it lives lots of places:

here and here and here and...

WHAAAAAA....?!?!?!?!?

California!!!!!

Let me see that up close.

But...

I have NEVER seen a roadrunner in the Bay Area!

Where are they hiding?

Oh.

Well, there's one thing I just learned.

How about another?

Eh? What's that you say?

Well... several things.

Roadrunners don't sound like this; they sound like this, 

which is kind of like a chicken, 

and they are the size of a chicken

but they are actually 

a kind of cuckoo!

Confusing.

They can also lift up their tail feathers

to expose special black feathers

that work like solar panels

to warm their butts

before they go

run run run.

Actually, Roadrunners are crazy little creatures. 

They love to pop in, grab their food, and RUUUUUUNNN AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!

Doot doo doooo, 
minding my own business,
just sunning my bum...

Nothing to see...

Hah! I eat what I waaant!

What are YOU looking at?

Got a bug! Yeah!!

And now for my getaway!

Actually, that roadrunner looks an awful lot like this Alvarezsaur dinosaur discovered in China recently

Xixianykus zhangi

Other (wait-for-it...) chicken-sized Alvarezsaurs have been found in North America too!

Prehistoric roadrunners?

Could be.

Well, be careful out there. Don't run into any dinosaur-sized roadrunners, my friends!

Ceci n'est pas un roadrunner.

Bonus myth-busting fact:

Bonus-Bonus cartoon:

Er...

Oops, gotta run! Bye for now...

meep meep!