# What do Roadrunners eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506 "2005-02-11T01:53:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/1 "2005-02-11T01:53:56Z")
I know what roadrunners eat in the warmer months: mostly lizards, snakes, bugs and maybe some other bird eggs. But this time of year in New Mexico there are no eggs and the rest are hibernating (It’s below freezing at night and there is snow on the mountain). Yet I see roadrunners out runnin’ around. What are they eating this time of year? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/2 "2005-02-11T02:01:37Z")
They eat the pile of Acme Roadrunner Chow that is sitting at the bottom of a canyon. Up top, there’s a coyote attempting to dislodge a huge rock with a 2 by 4. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/3 "2005-02-11T02:02:48Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > They eat the pile of Acme Roadrunner Chow that is sitting at the bottom of a canyon. Up top, there’s a coyote attempting to dislodge a huge rock with a 2 by 4. 😉 Darn you! I came in here just to make such a reference… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/4 "2005-02-11T02:21:58Z")
I’ve seen photos of them eating lizards, grasshoppers & scorpions. Probably any critters small enough for them to catch. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/5 "2005-02-11T02:25:09Z")
Most likely rodents, and maybe small birds if they can catch them. One site says that they eat up to 10% plant material in the winter, including fruits and seeds. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/6 "2005-02-11T02:31:10Z")
Thanks, Colibri! I almost put your name in the thread title, hoping you’d spot it sooner. But your little birdie eyes are always alert. That’s exactly what I was wondering and suspecting - that they might be eating plant matter sometimes. When you mentioned rodents, I suddenly realized that yesterday morning while running on the trail where I generally see roadrunners, I saw a mouse scutter alongside the base of a wall. So there are rodents around in the wintertime here after all. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/7 "2005-02-11T02:31:07Z")
Roadrunners are _carnivores_? Damn. That changes everything. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/8 "2005-02-11T02:36:14Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Roadrunners are _carnivores_? > > Damn. That changes everything. ☹ Yes. In fact they look and move a lot like reptiles, I think. We have a collared lizard in New Mexico that runs on its back legs and seeing that made me understand how they could be evolutionarily related. Roadrunners are really amazing birds. They can only fly up into a tree or a short distance, mostly relying on their feet to run. (As you know from the cartoons.) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/9 "2005-02-11T02:37:58Z")
_F a s t_ food, of course!!! Come on people, get with the program. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/10 "2005-02-15T22:02:41Z")
My dad has a bird feeder in his yard. Doves and quail come for the birdseed, and roadrunners come for the doves and quail. I once saw a roadrunner perch on a tree branch about ten feet off the ground, and pounce on a dove as it flew by. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/11 "2005-02-15T22:05:10Z")
> [@JillGat](#): > > Yes. In fact they look and move a lot like reptiles, I think. In fact, they _are_ reptiles (insofar as the label ‘reptile’ means anything). But try convincing an ornithologist of that. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/12 "2005-02-15T22:14:23Z")
Hijack - **Colibri** - did you know your screen name is the name of a brand of bird feeder? I just bought a hummingbird feeder from petsmart and the brand name in big letters is… **Colibri** ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/13 "2005-02-15T22:24:36Z")
When I worked in San Bernardino there was a roadrunner that would visit our car park every morning. It would go to one of the ‘planters’ and find a snail, then go to one of the abutments and bash it open and eat the tasty little escargot. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/14 "2005-02-15T22:25:22Z")
Somewhat ironically, they eat Coyotes ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/15 "2005-02-15T22:45:37Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Hijack - **Colibri** - did you know your screen name is the name of a brand of bird feeder? I just bought a hummingbird feeder from petsmart and the brand name in big letters is… **Colibri** You do know _Colibri_ is a [genus of hummingbirds](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Colibri.html#Colibri), don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/16 "2005-02-15T22:48:54Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Hijack - **Colibri** - did you know your screen name is the name of a brand of bird feeder? I just bought a hummingbird feeder from petsmart and the brand name in big letters is… **Colibri** It doesn’t surprise me - _colibri_ means hummingbird in Spanish (and several other languages, originally being an Arawak word). I use it as my handle because I did my thesis research on hummingbirds in Panama. ---
**Author:** ![WpgTriniman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a88e4f/32.png) [@WpgTriniman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WpgTriniman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/17 "2005-02-15T23:04:17Z")
These birds walk rapidly about, running down prey or occasionally jumping up to catch insects or birds. They mainly eat insects, reptiles, rodents, tarantulas, scorpions and small birds. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater\_Roadrunner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Roadrunner) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/18 "2005-02-15T23:55:28Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Roadrunners are _carnivores_? > > Damn. That changes everything. ☹ You bet. They are fierce predators that will eat anything they can catch and they try to catch anything they think they are big enough to take. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/19 "2005-02-16T00:07:36Z")
> [@Malodorous](#): > > Somewhat ironically, they eat Coyotes Since they sometimes eat carrion, they probably do make a meal off road-killed Coyote on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506/20 "2005-02-16T00:17:09Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Since they sometimes eat carrion, they probably do make a meal off road-killed Coyote on occasion. And sometimes they have a real bad day. There was a young roadrunner who hung around the 5th fairway on our golf course. We also have coyotes who hang around our golf course. One morning the scattered feathers out in the fairway were all that was left of the roadrunner. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-roadrunners-eat/289506.md?page=2)