The Cornell Lab of Ornithology on its All About Birds website suggests male roadrunners bring twigs to their mates, which actually build the nest, typically located on a branch or in the nook of a shrub or cactus fairly close to the ground. Greater Roadrunner: Large, ground-dwelling cuckoo with overall brown, white and buff streaked appearance. The legendary roadrunner bird is famous for its distinctive appearance, its ability to eat rattlesnakes and its preference for scooting across the American deserts, as popularized in Warner Bros. cartoons. 5 surprising facts about roadrunners They have a reputation for speed and wit, but there's more to these amazing desert birds than you might suspect! While Dunn lurked behind his camera, the carnivorous bird, which typically eats lizards and insects, would lurk at the base of a flowering cactus or a hummingbird feeder and wait for a feathery snack to stop by. Thus a roadrunner you see harvesting and … Roadrunners are faster, large brown and what or black and white birds that sport a head crest, strong legs and feet and a tail that is long and tipped in white. Tail is long. Listen to Greater roadrunner on bird-sounds.net - a comprehensive collection of North American bird songs and bird calls. Eats insects, lizards, snakes, rodents, small birds and fruits and seeds. According to The Real Roadrunner by Martha Anne Maxon, scientists have clocked the speedy birds running at 15 to 20 miles per hour. The roadrunner is legendary for its speed, its unique appearance and because it is fast enough to catch and eat even a rattlesnake. Can run up to 15 mph. Face has blue and orange bare patch of skin behind eyes. Roadrunners -- two bird species in the Geococcyx genus and members of the cuckoo family, Cuculidae -- inhabit desert and scrub areas of the southwestern United States, where they feed and build nests in scattered brush and grasses. Head has a shaggy crest. During all that time watching hummingbirds, he occasionally has had some company: a Greater Roadrunner.