beep beep non e uno struzzo

Beep Beep is not an ostrich, but a Major Road Runner: where he lives and how fast he is

Credit: dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The famous character Beep Beep from Warner Bros., Willy the Coyote’s arch-enemy in the Looney Tunes cartoon of the same name, who runs quickly through the desert streets to the sound of “Beep Beep”, it’s not an ostrich as many think: it is a major road runner (Geococcyx californianus). This American desert bird, also known by its English name roadrunnerbelongs to the Cuckoo family and has characteristics and habits actually similar to those of Beep Beep.

What animal is “Beep Beep”, where does it live and how fast is it

Geococcyx californianuscalled by the Americans roadrunner due to its habit of moving quickly thanks to a pair of long and robust legs, it is a bird of Cuckoo family. It is medium in size, slender in appearance and weighs on average between 220 grams and 340 grams. The plumage of the head and back is dark brown with white streaks, a white chest and yellow eyes. Very characteristic are a long tail of black feathers and a crest of feathers on the head that the bird can raise and lower in alert situations. The feet have two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backwards (zygodactyl feet). Just like Beep Beep, these are birds that prefer to run more than fly and they also reach speed of 27 km/h; the long tail is used as a rudder and for braking, the wings are opened for very short flights. They live on average 7-8 years, reproduce after the rainy season and hatch from 2 to 8 eggs. They emit various types of vocalizations and the males attract the females with a sort of whistle.

roadrunner
Road Runner (Geococcyx californianus).

The greater roadrunner lives in the plains of the southwestern United States and Mexico and has a close relative, the minor road runner (Geococcyx velox) which populates some areas of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Its habitat is that of arid and open environments, but to reproduce it needs the presence of evergreen bushes and shrubs, in particular coastal sagewhere it builds the nest and hatches the eggs.

Geococcyx velox
Geococcyx velox. Credit: Walter Siegmund, CC BY–SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

He has an incredible ability to adaptation to the temperature range between day and night typical of the desert plains of Mexico: to resist the scorching temperatures, it is able to slow down its activities and metabolism by up to 50% in the hottest hours of the day, while at night it goes into hypothermia to conserve energy.

What the high street runner eats and how he behaves

The roadrunner is a predator of lizards, mice, small birds and insects. During courtship the male chases the female with short runs alternating with pauses and offers her delicious morsels of lizards and snakes. Couples, once formed, can remain stable for life. Both parents help build the nest near a bush, hatch the eggs and feed the chicks for up to 30-40 days.

The natural enemies of the Greater Road Runner are the coyotejust like in the cartoon, but also hawks, cats, skunks and raccoons. These agile birds try to escape their predators thanks to speed of movement and the ability to hide in the bushes, but the construction of new roads in the desert makes them increasingly vulnerable to road investments and fragments their natural habitat.

In short, it can be confirmed that the two creators of Beep Beep have reproduced the Roadrunner really well.