Unique Roadrunner behavior?

[Gerri Levine]

Hi all
I am a newbie and I wanted to share one of a series of photos of a roadrunner I observed at Bosque del Apache in Nov early morning. I was photographing it sunning and all of a sudden it flattened itself. I thought maybe a raptor had flown overhead but I saw nothing. It stayed this way for maybe a minute and really looked like it was trying to blend into the earth and become invisible. Then, suddenly it dashed into the small hole (to its right) and a bunch of little brown birds flew out out of the brush. Seems like it was hunting for its breakfast. I'd never heard of this behavior. It was almost like a cat stalking its prey. Anyone else ever seen this? (As I mentioned I have an entire series and was really happy to capture this interesting behavior)
Taken with a Canon 7D 100-400 1/500 f8 iso200

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I'm not sure about roadrunners but some birds do this to get rid of parasites such as mites in their plumage.

[Asif Khan]

This behavior is called "anting" ...especially perfomed by Blue Jay's...where they allow ants to come and bite them and help get birds rid of parasites through the chemicals secreted by ant/insect bite..however, they would stay for some time.....Cheers.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

This behavior is called "anting" ...especially perfomed by Blue Jay's...where they allow ants to come and bite them and help get birds rid of parasites through the chemicals secreted by ant/insect bite..however, they would stay for some time.....Cheers.

That is interesting, I thought the high temperature of a particular surface is what kills the mites. I had titmice who did this on blazingly hot roofs.

[Gerri Levine]

Interesting suggestions, but the roadrunner ducked into the bush and flushed the birds, then he came back out, empty-beaked, and went about his business sunning itself. I really think this was a hunting behavior and I know they will eat/go after small birds (I believe that the usual food is lizards). In fact, I read somewhere that they have actually gone after thrashers which are about the same size. It was very cold, early morning, and I doubt there were insects out, but I could be wrong. And the flattening was just for a minute or two.
The ranger at Bosque said he'd heard of this "hunting" behavior but never seen it. Time for some more research, I guess.

[Asif Khan]

That is interesting, I thought the high temperature of a particular surface is what kills the mites. I had titmice who did this on blazingly hot roofs.

Indeed, have read about titmice sunning, but have seen blue jays anting on anthills in India..its the sun for the titmice and ants for the jays or rollers....! quite amazing.

[Asif Khan]

Interesting suggestions, but the roadrunner ducked into the bush and flushed the birds, then he came back out, empty-beaked, and went about his business sunning itself. I really think this was a hunting behavior and I know they will eat/go after small birds (I believe that the usual food is lizards). In fact, I read somewhere that they have actually gone after thrashers which are about the same size. It was very cold, early morning, and I doubt there were insects out, but I could be wrong. And the flattening was just for a minute or two.
The ranger at Bosque said he'd heard of this "hunting" behavior but never seen it. Time for some more research, I guess.

Gerri, from what you explain..especially the short flattening duration..it looks more of short stalk ...to hunt..would be good to see the other shots that you captured...he may be going for lizard around there..but unknowingly chased a few birds...one never knows...great behavior capture...!

[Gerri Levine]

Hi Asif
I checked a bit online and roadrunners are onmivorous and do eat small birds as well as insects and reptiles. I'm going to email a researcher in Texas who studies roadrunners and see what he says. I'd be happy to post other images but I'm restricted to one image every 2 days so it would take a while. I do have a few more (not all by any means) on my Flickr site which I probably can't post here but email me and I'll send you the link.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Please keep us posted what you find out, sounds very interesting!

[Gerri Levine]

Hi all
I emailed Dr. Dean Ransom at Texas A&M and this is how he responded:
"Sounds like it was an opportunistic event and clearly a part of roadie hunting behavior. The sunning behavior is a tactic to warm up after cold nights on the roost. Roadrunners, and many other bird species, have been shown to lower their body temperature on cold nights as a way to save energy; sunning behavior helps them 'restart their engine' so to speak. The cat like stalk by flattening itself--essentially minimizing its profile-- also allows the bird to dart into small places like thick brush. Roadies hunt, catch and eat whatever they can, their diet is very general and broad. That said, they are not very successful at catching birds. The few published studies on food habits and diets list birds as a minimal if not trace component of thier diet. Roadies have a bad reputation among quail hunters due to the perception that they eat quail. They may take a few, but hardly enough to warrant the concern, much less the shooting of roadies on that basis."

I hadn't included the photos but he asked to see them and I hope he can use them somehow!

[Asif Khan]

Hi Gerri, Thank you for posting the response. A very good explaination from Dr. Dean and solves the mystery. I havent seen a live roadrunner in my life yet and look forward to see one in future. They would be an exciting species to watch. I will PM you my email address and if you can share your link to flickr, it would be great.

Thanks Gerri, again for posting this thread and what matters most is the follow through that you did and posted the response back from Dr. Dean to close this. Everyone learnt something new today.

Keep on posting.

Cheers