Two Cuckoos, Anis and Roadrunners

Mexico is home to twelve species of birds that are in the cuckoo family. Where I live in the Western Central Highlands of Michoacan occur two of those family members, albeit strikingly different in appearance and behavior, the groove-billed ani and the lesser roadrunner. One, the more common, less elusive, and less reclusive anis I get multiple “great looks” of virtually every day on the trails near my home while the other, the roadrunner I only can get a quick glimpse of about one in ten times when I do my daily birding. Nonetheless, both are a thrill to observe and appreciate.

These two species of cuckoos only have two major physical characteristics in common. Like all cuckoos, their feet are zygodactyl meaning unlike songbirds that have a three-toes- forward and one-toe- back arrangement, they have a two-toes-forward and two-toes-back arrangement. Their only other important external anatomical similarity is that they both have long tails whose outer feathers are shorter than the inner, giving the tail a rounded look. Other than that, these cuckoos are well beyond being birds of a different feather!

Approximately 13" long, the groove-billed ani is a medium-large sized blackbird with a sometimes hard to discern iridescent blue and green sheen on its head and breast. An odd bird in both looks and demeanor, I like to describe them as displaying both a “serious” and “whimsical” appearance. Along with a curious slicked-backed crown these anis have a large thick curved rounded beak which has parallel horizontal grooves. Consequently, to some observers they “look like grackles with somebody else’s head.” In flight they flap their wings and then gracefully glide to where they are heading all the while their tail appears as if it is on a hinge as it swings in all directions in a pendulum-like manner. Oftentimes, I see them “sunbathing” similar to anhinghas or cormorants as when perched they spread out their wings at “weird” and varying angles.

These tropical birds range from Southern Texas through Mexico, Central America, and into Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru. They inhabit open and partly open country-pastures, savannas, orchards, and fields. Where I live, these ground foraging cuckoos are typically seen cutely yet ungracefully hopping around in small groups of 5-8 amidst similarly minded cattle egrets near grazing or resting cattle in their pursuit of stirred up insects-they also eat seeds and fruit. Additionally, I see them hanging out with cattle egrets at the municipal dump where carcasses of animals along with chicken feathers are discarded as that is a prime territory for their locating and consuming their insect prey.

Extremely social, they are known to intriguingly breed in pairs of 1-5 and share communally one nest where all group members in a highly territorial fashion incubate and then care for up to 20 babies. Also part of their social and cooperative nature as it relates to preserving the safety of their group, are the anis many vocalizations. Easy to identify in advance of seeing them, I have heard all of their known “voices” ranging from their frequent sharp, high whistles to slurred whining, squeaks, pips, squeals, and even “growls.”

Conversely, their distinctly different cuckoo brethren, the lesser roadrunner, is the antithesis of social. Of the dozens of the fleeting sightings (none lasting more then 15 seconds and most much less) I have never seen more than one of these 16-20 inch primarily terrestrial birds at a time- although when not solitary, they will be in monogamous pairings perhaps for life. With their long legs, powerful feet and with their “cocky” crested head with its oversized dark beak and its long tail both in prototypical road runner fashion held erect, when I see them its normally on trails as they skitter/run a few feet and then fly barely off the ground a few feet and then suddenly disappear into the dry semi-open field or scattered brushy chaparral. Moreover, perhaps I have heard their call as they are hidden away in the brush, but I am not sure, as their sound is said to be a series of low moaning dove-like coos but somewhat louder.

You see (however briefly), these non-migratory, short-winged roadrunners who are capable of running 18mph/30km are ground dwelling cuckoos who in pursuit of their prey (or during any other daily living activity) much prefer to sprint rather than fly; only to get their streamline dark brown with tan and white streaked bodies over obstacles like short walls or to escape predators will they fly any distance at all. True omnivores, lesser roadrunners while on the ground will pursue and eat insects, scorpions, frogs, and small reptiles (including lizards and small rattlesnakes that will be consumed whole). Unlike their cuckoo counterparts, the greater roadrunner which inhabits the Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico, the lesser roadrunners are endemic to Southwestern Mexico, a tiny segment of the Northwestern Yucatan Peninsula, and Northern Central America.

Fortunately, both of these cuckoo family members who are a joy to behold even though they are largely disparate by looks and habit, are listed in terms of their evaluation status as being of “least concern,” meaning they are not close to being considered endangered or even at-risk. Even though in my area, the last couple of years some of the nesting habitat of the groove-billed anis has been destroyed by the property owners of the cattle grazing lands, somehow they remain delightfully and abundantly viewable. As for the far less frequently seen lesser roadrunners, I really wish that when birding with my wife, Maria, who is fluent in both English and Spanish, as sometimes I am looking at another type of bird, when seeing a roadrunner would get my attention by spontaneously saying “roadrunner” or “correcaminos,” instead of what she always excitedly does by going “look, look it’s a ahh, ahh, ahh.”