Lesser Roadrunner Geococcyx velox Scientific name definitions

Lesser Roadrunner is the sister species of the better known Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). It is distributed along the west coast of Central America from northern Mexico south to Nicarauga, with a disjunct population on the Yucatan Peninsula. Throughout its range, it occupies arid scrub or other dry open habitats from sea level up to 3000. Lesser Roadrunner is quite similar to the Greater Roadrunner, with which it narrowly overlaps in Sonora, Mexico, but Lesser is smaller, with no streaking on the throat or breast, and below is buffy, not white. Lesser Roadrunner is an opportunistic predator and will take a variety of small to medium sized insects, for which it forages by running rapidly along the ground, generally under cover.