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The other day I made this image of a Greater Roadrunner as it stood on some open ground in the desert.
The roadrunner was alert, even tense. Its raised crest and tail signaled that it was excited.
The cause of the roadrunner’s excitement isn’t immediately evident in this photograph but there is evidence in the form of a pale blob near the image’s upper left corner. That blob is an out of focus Round-tailed Ground Squirrel, a small and very common desert rodent. The squirrel was peering warily at the roadrunner from the entrance to its burrow.
Round-tailed Ground Squirrels are potential prey for a variety of species, including Greater Roadrunners. This roadrunner would happily seize and dine on the squirrel should it make the unlikely mistake of emerging from its burrow. Round-tailed Ground Squirrels live in colonies and there were other burrows near where the roadrunner was standing. The squirrel in this image may have been alerted to the roadrunner’s presence but the roadrunner likely was hoping that another less wary individual might emerge.
Image made with a Canon R5, Canon EF 400mm f4 DO II lens+Canon EF 1.4x telextender, M setting (auto ISO), ISO 500, f5.6 @ 1/4000.
Sonoran Images 