Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Home
Today's Show: Spider Silk - Duct Tape for Bird Nests
Hummingbird sitting on its tiny nest built of plant material held together with spider's silk
Listen In
  • Today's Show
  • Listen
    • BirdNote Daily
    • Bring Birds Back
    • Threatened
    • BirdNote Presents
    • Sound Escapes
    • How to Listen
  • Explore
    • Field Notes
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Birdwatching
    • Resources for Educators
  • How to Help Birds
    • At Home
    • In Your Community
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • The Team
    • Board Members
    • DEI/IDEA Commitment
    • Partners
    • For Radio Stations
    • Funding
    • FAQs
    • Support BirdNote
  • Donate

Alex Chadwick in Big Bend: The Roadrunner and the Baird's Sparrow

November 7, 2018
Listen Now
Subscribe
  • Share This:
  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to Twitter
  • Share to Email
Greater Roadrunner Expand Image
© Andrej Chudy, CC

In the Looney Tunes cartoon, the Road Runner is potential prey for Wile E. Coyote. But in the real world, the Greater Roadrunner is an excellent predator. BirdNote contributor Alex Chadwick visited Mark Flippo, a retired park ranger at Big Bend National Park, to learn more about the behavior of these fascinating birds.

Funding for the BirdNote series on Big Bend National Park comes from Deedie and Rusty Rose.

  • Full Transcript
  • Credits

BirdNote®
Alex Chadwick at Big Bend - The Roadrunner and the Baird's Sparrow

Mary McCann: Big Bend National Park is a haven for birds both common and rare, as Alex Chadwick found out on a recent visit to the park.

AC: We’re on a dirt and gravel road in a place called Dug Out Wells. I’m looking for birds with a guide.

MF: I’m Mark Flippo, I live in Terlingua, Texas. Did you hear that? Mnn. Mnn. Mnn. That's the roadrunner.

MF: Roadrunners. I’ll tell you a roadrunner story. A number of years ago, I was leading a birding program for the public. We were right down there at Rio Grande Village, and there were a bunch of sparrows that were in there…five, six different species. And there was one odd sparrow in there. And I looked at it, and I was so surprised, "Wow! That’s a Baird’s Sparrow!" A Baird’s sparrow is a very rare, declining species.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see movement on the ground, and here comes the roadrunner. And all the other sparrows jump…when this roadrunner comes in. Except the Baird’s. The Baird’s has its head down. And it was ... [snap of fingers] – that fast. The roadrunner… snags this Baird’s Sparrow. There’s, like, 100 sparrows in there. And it picks the one, the rarest sparrow.

And, I see a guy; he’s got his camera. And, I say, "Photograph that, quick, quick!" because back then, it was a review species in Texas.

AC: Meaning, it's rare, and if you see one, you’re supposed to get a picture.

MF: So, he snaps a picture.

AC: The Texas Bird Records Committee certified that the bird in the photo – the dead one – was a Baird’s Sparrow, and added that this was the first time the committee had ever certified a photo of a rare bird that was being eaten.

For BirdNote, this is Alex Chadwick.

###

Funding for the BirdNote series on Big Bend National Park comes from Deedie and Rusty Rose.

###

Written and presented by Alex Chadwick
Original piece produced by Katie Davis
Original field recording and mixing by Flawn Williams
Short version of story re-produced and re-mixed by John Kessler
Executive Producer Dominic Black

© 2014 Tune In to Nature.org      November 2018

ID# chadwicka-roadrunner-01-2014-11-11

Mary McCann
Narrator
Tags: humor, Southwest, Texas, desert

Related Resources

Listen to the special series "Alex Chadwick Goes to Big Bend National Park"Greater Roadrunner - More at All About BirdsBaird's Sparrow - All About Birds Has More!

More About These Birds

Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

Geococcyx californianus

Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii)

Ammodramus bairdii

Sights & Sounds

Related Field Notes

November 5, 2017

Canada Geese Caption Comments

By BirdNote Gallery
BirdNote Facebook fans are so clever!
October 5, 2015

What Do You Call a Group of BirdNote Listeners?

By BirdNote Gallery
We recently ran a show about collective nouns for groups of birds,

Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

Support BirdNote

  • About
  • Annual Report
  • Contact
  • Science Advisory Council
  • Pitch Page
  • Sights & Sounds
Sign up for our newsletter!
  • BirdNote on Facebook
  • BirdNote on Twitter
  • BirdNote on Instagram

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy