The other day, for example, the wild birds were so close in the desert wash that a visitor nearly tripped over one. The roadrunner ran for cover under a nearby bush and clacked its beak loudly. The hawk suddenly was there, dive-bombing low. But the predator flew upward and past the bush. Cornett explained that the roadrunner had been calling to warn its mate about the hawk.
Roadrunners mate for life.
No, he said, this is science. They are bird nos. 701 and 702. They often dare and double-dare the resident Cooper's hawk. But one day a couple of years ago they didn't show up.