The greater roadrunner Geococcyx californianus is found in the western and southwestern USA down to Mexico. Well-known from its duels with the wily coyote in the 'Roadrunner' cartoons, this fascinating bird can run at speeds of up to 12 miles per hour, and occasionally kills and eats small rattlesnakes. The roadrunner more commonly eats scorpions, tarantula spiders, small mammals and lizards. Roadrunners cope with the hostile desert environment by allowing their bodies to cool slightly in the cold nights, warming up in the morning by exposing dark patches on their backs to the sun. The hoatzin Opisthocomus hoatzin lives in the rainforests of the Amazon basin.
Hoatzins are poor fliers, flapping from tree to tree around rainforest creeks and rivers.
They feed on green leaves, and fill their stomach to swelling with the leaves, which then slowly digest. Hoatzin live in groups, and each group of 2-6 adults helps build a communal nest, helping also to care for the young. They can do this because the hoatzin chicks have claws on the ends of their wings which they can use to scramble up the tree to the nest again. Touracos There are 20 known species of touraco. They are usually brightly colored, and nest in trees, making a flimsy platform of twigs.