[Critique Group 1] cleora's october submission358 words

[sitting.duck at springmail.com]

358 words
Shy Bird
by Sly Duck

One day while going around the house to get something fromthe front yard, I happened to glance up at the roof. There, to my surprise, onthe very peak, stood a Roadrunner watching me intently.

Wanting a better look, I went into the house to get a pairof binoculars. To my delight, he was still there when I came out.

I raised the binoculars to my eyes in time to see him run tothe other side of the roof.

I hurried around to the other side. There he was lookingdown at me. I raised the glasses again. He ran to the other side. Five times wedid this dance. Finally, in utter frustration, "Okay, you shy bird. Haveit your way," I said.

I don't know when he left. Later in the day, I looked up andhe was gone. No idea how he came to be there or when he left.

The roadrunners (as they are commonly called in Texas)(genus Geococcyx), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are twospecies of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They arefound in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, usuallyin the desert. They are 18 to 24 inches from beak to tail.

This fast-running ground bird can fly, but prefers to runaway from danger. It has been clocked on the road at 20 to 27 mph (32 - 42klh).

They are opportunistic omnivores. Its diet normally consistsof insects (such as grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and beetles), smallreptiles (such as lizards and snakes, including rattlesnakes),rodents and othersmall mammals, spiders (including tarantulas), scorpions, centipedes, snails, smallbirds (and nestlings), eggs, and fruits and seeds like those from prickly pearcactuses and sumacs. The roadrunner forages on the ground and, when hunting,usually runs after prey from under cover. It may leap to catch insects, andcommonly batters certain prey against the ground. Because of its quickness, theroadrunner is one of the few animals that preys upon rattlesnakes; it is alsothe only real predator of the tarantula hawk wasp.
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