This past Friday, my research group went out to Wild Basin to set out some more of our iButtons. We had to go off trail to get to Grid points 2, 5, & 8 and while on our way to the first grid point we heard something moving and making its way to us through the landscape. Meagen and I were scared it was a snake, but it turned out to be the Greater Roadrunner! They are a pretty fascinating species from what I have read. They have a very distinctive shape with long legs, a long neck and a long straight tail. Their body structure is what gives them their speed, leaning over parallel to the ground. They can easily out run any human but are weak fliers. They are found in hot shrubby regions and range from Southwestern United States to Mexico. They hunt lizards, small mammals and birds, but have been known to kill rattlesnakes. They kind of blend into the background of the pictures but it was an awesome observation!
My iNaturalist post can be found here.