While we worked getting our rock wall building underway, about 3 years ago, my wife, who had been taking pictures of our landscaping efforts out back, called to me to quickly turn around, as I was entering the garage. There close behind me, this guy seemed rather intent on getting to know me better! She caught this picture as he was strutting towards me, not afraid in the least bit! Many folks not familiar with the Desert Southwest still think that the "Roadrunner" is an imaginary bird. Not so. A member of the Cuckoo family, they are roughly the size of a chicken, and prefer to move about on foot. Their flight ability is rarely displayed, but they can fly, quite well. They eat anything that moves, small enough, of course. That season, there seemed to be a proliferation of them. Since then, we have had much fewer. More reliably present are the Quail, which we feed daily. Their babies are wonderful to watch, little feet moving at lightning speed to keep up with Momma & Poppa! We are not sure what animals are predatory upon these birds, but have discouraged the presence of some feral cats. There are quite a few Cottontail bunnies always around, eager to "mop up" the clippings of my vegetables, ends off Zucchini and Yellow squash. These little creatures' ability to defy the odds here leaves me wondering. A human being wandering about, as they do, would likely be dead in a few days. Yet, over the eons, these animals have prevailed over the Desert's rough life. They must like the winters!
That photo is worthy to be in the pages of National Geographic magazine. I remember the road runner cartoon of yore, that was popular on tv during my time. You mentioned quail and that's my idea when you say about a bird walking on foot, I know that quails couldn't fly. Remember that I was born and raised in a city apartment so birds are alien to me. But when we moved to this suburban house, I got to know of some birds that inhabit the trees around here. There is the "bato-bato" which is a big bird like that one in the picture but with a plump body like a quail's. There's also the yellow bird that looks like a parakeet although bigger and with a peculiar long tweeting sound it makes. There are other varieties but the most notable is the "naughty" bird. It is black with white streaks in the tail. A small bird that is ferocious that they go in pairs to peck on animals. Here is the video that we made to show how naughty those birds are....
I like the picture great shot. Maybe he thinks you will stir up some food for him. We have what they call cow egrets they hang out around the cows picking off parasites and the cow goes through the field it stirs up the insects so they now have dinner