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The roadrunner forages on the ground and, when hunting, usually runs after prey from under cover. It may leap to catch insects, and commonly batters certain prey against the ground. The roadrunner is one of the few animals that preys upon rattlesnakes; [16] it is also the only real predator of tarantula hawk wasps. [13]
Greater roadrunner. The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs. The Old World cuckoos are brood parasites. Groove-billed ani, Crotophaga sulcirostris (A) Greater roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus; Yellow-billed cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus
The greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along with the lesser roadrunner, it is one of two species in the genus Geococcyx.
Predators, which mainly focus on young birds, include snakes, coyotes, and roadrunners. This may account for very low brood success in the species, as only 20% of nests are successful in a year. [18]:183-185. Curve-billed thrashers share a very similar range to the cactus wren, as well as a favorite species to nest in: the jumping cholla.
The elk herd is the largest in Oklahoma at about 1,000 [19] and the white tailed deer number about 450. These ungulates are no longer considered endangered. [ 20 ] Many smaller mammal species also live in the refuge, including the nine-banded armadillo , bassarisk , and the black-tailed prairie dog .
This means the cuckoo chick can hatch before the host's chicks do, and it can eject the unhatched eggs from the nest. Scientists incubated common cuckoo eggs for 24 hours at the bird's body temperature of 40 °C (104 °F), and examined the embryos, which were found "much more advanced" than those of other species studied.
This list of mammals of Oklahoma lists all wild mammal species recorded in the state of Oklahoma. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] This includes mammals that are extirpated from the state and species introduced into the state.
However, a predator seems to have difficulty determining which prairie dog is making the call due to its "ventriloquistic" nature. [37] Also, when a prairie dog makes a call, the others seem not to run into the burrows, but stand on the mounds to see where the predator is, making themselves visible to the predator.