Meep-Meep has had it!
He is tired of the cat and mouse game.
He wants his close-ups damn-it!
He doesn’t understand why I take photos of all these lesser Holler birdies, when I have him to chase and catch a glimpse of.
So he just decided to show us all what we’ve been missing.
You have to admit he is one glam bird, he has a moveable mohawk!
I had been hearing this coyote pup cry early every morning, so I went in search of the abandoned pup, and this is who I found, the roadrunner making a completely credible repetitive coyote cry. I answered his cry and we had a morning symphony. His cry is like the second clip in the following link which gives some, but not all of the amazing vocalizations of these fascinating birds.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_Roadrunner/sounds
We have several groups of roadrunners living inside our fences at The Holler and we interact with, and hear them everyday. A guest kept telling us about hearing growling outside his window at night which alarmed him enough to close the window, and yep that was roadrunners too. They also bark, and make a whirring noise. I imagine they imitate coyotes to confuse them, smart meepers!
Cheers to you from The Holler’s communicative and highly entertaining Meep-Meeps~
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I never knew roadrunners barked. Maybe they’d make good watch dogs…er…birds. 🙂
I think your right! It clearly would deter a lot of animals in their ecosystem if they thought coyotes were around, even coyotes, who can by shy of other packs. They are also smart to live inside our fences eating all our lizards and watching us through the windows. I’m sure we are interesting for them to watch, gives them some variety outside of lizards and snakes. I do think they are hobbyist people watchers, especially when we sleep and when my husband eats breakfast, only when they think we can’t see them. Maybe they are just feathered dinosaurs, wishing we were small enough to eat.
They eat snakes? My kind of bird. Not a fan of snakes. Lizards either. 🙂
They don’t just eat snakes, they eat rattlesnakes! The Holler rattlers come out of winter hibernation in March with all their little baby rattlers. The Meepers ignore the lizards for awhile. I have seen one run with a half digested rattler hanging out their beak. Check this out, but not before bedtime if you don’t like snakes:
Love it, Cindy. I love roadrunners and you got some amazing photos of them. Love, N 🙂 <3
Thank you Natalie. Love and Happy Valentines Day back to you my friend! <3
😊❤️
You just gave me reality to the cartoon! Great post!
Wonderful! So glad. I often think of the cartoonist and how much he must have enjoyed watching both the roadrunners and the coyotes!
And the laughter! Not to mention the rooting for the road runner.
Lovely pics..handsome meep meep if I ever saw one–mighty proud too, apparently😸😹
He has decided being coy and running away was wrecking the quality of his close ups.
He’s a pin-up bird, fo sho!! And clearly quite confident of his avian charms!!!
And unlike human celebrities, he is correct in his self evaluation~
I adore roadrunners and have always only watched them but never been around them long enough to know what wonderful vocalizers they are…It was interesting to hear their various calls on the links you provided…..like the loons, here in my neck of the woods, they have a most interesting repertoire!
Yes, loons are magical, and like you reversed, I only hear them when I travel. It is always a thrill!
This guy is such a show off 🙂 He is beautiful, Cindy!
He is isn’t it, and so much fun to live with families of them. My son call them our pets!
What an amazing bird. Do you think you were giggled at when the meep-meep had you fooled over the coyote call?
Oh I didn’t think of this. Of course, that is why he was so high and mighty, thinking, “silly human, I fooled her!”
As a matter of fact this same thing is happening right now. It is night and the male Great Horned Owl is doing his nightly territorial coo. I thought it was a friendly greeting, so I have been answering back. I just looked it up and learned responding in kind invites conflict which is why he flew so low to my head a few nights back.
Really, the poor birds have to deal with such a daft human. He’s cooing happily now and I won’t answer. He vanquished the silly human.
Your new course of action sounds wise!
Gosh, he’s such a handsome fellow. I’ve never seen, and never will see one in the flesh, err, feathers, so I’ve been ogling the photos for a while.
I ogle them constantly, and visa versa! They are incredibly fascinating, adaptive birds, with such curiousity about us, the interlopers in their territory. They can kill rattlesnakes. Any new thing we put outside, they run all over and investigate as if approving. They nest in the bushes by our windows and we get to see the babies when they are old enough to be out and about. They are just wonderful little dino-birds.
They do look ancient, come to think of it.
Yes, like some evolutionary species where a few must have flown away during the extinction(s). I hope this might be what birds are. They are always above us, even the ones that live on the ground.
What an awesome encounter! Great post Cindy!
It is exactly like he decided, after eight years, I won’t run away from that human and her camera. Let her see how wonderful I am! He was right! <3
Thanks for the pictures as well as that amazing video. That’s certainly one talented and good looking bird.
They do remind me of dinosaurs that were way too talented to become extinct, and they are!
Cries, noises, beeps…aside – Wow – what fantastic images of pride in oneself – good one Cindy 🙂
I always feel so priveleged to hear from you. You are about important things. Be well my friend~
Ah thank you my dear friend, Cindy – I do think of you often even if I don’t always comment etc Gigantic hugs XXXXX
<3 <3
LOL: He looks like he’s lapping up the attention. Love it!
I think he was!! Happy weekend Andy~
meep-meep, ha! Brings back fond memories of Saturday morning cartoons. Which I still laugh at sometimes if I’m channel surfing and hit on one. You always share the most amazing photo’s and stories. Seems dicey walking around looking for a coyote, let alone where early rising rattlers may be waiting for a mis-step. With my clumsy luck, I’d be sure to find one. Interesting that they mimic so many different animals, I didn’t know this. Mind you, Saturday morning cartoons are not the best way to learn about such things I suppose. Cheers dear and Happy Valentine’s ! xB
Right, the cartoons wern’t that factual were they. I have never seen the coyotes winch up an acme safe waiting for the roadrunner to cross the path for example. Of course, just because I have never seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
Have a great weekend my friend~
Now that’s an awesome bird!
He thinks you are an unusally perceptive human. (So do I, of course…….)
That’s interesting. He can imitate a Coyote. He’said a fine looking roadrunner 😊
He agrees with you 100%! 😉
Yes, Meep-Meep is one magnificent, photogenic roadrunner alright! I just love the mohawk and splash of color behind his eyes. So debonair and distinguished!
Plus his skull is actally blue underneath those head feathers! This I never knew until taking these clicks. He’s like a toned down Ziggy Stardust!
I had no idea they had such a wide vocal array.
Basically, we thought we were hearing coyotes and some sort of wild cat, but it was all roadrunners. Cheeky little dinosaurs!
Such a fascinating bird. My goodness, you live among such beauty!!!
A lot of people might not like the rural life, but it suits me to a T, and it sounds like you would like it too which I appreciate. Happy Saturday Dorinda~
I would love it! Happy Saturday Cindy 🙂
Extraordinary photographs! And I can’t believe the number of bees buzzing in the second clip!
Thank you so much, and yes, it was pretty overwhelmingly buzzy wasn’t it!
Meep meep: Herrlich!
Vielen dank mein lieber Freund!
That was great, Cindy. I never really knew much about roadrunners before especially the sounds they make. This really educated me in an entertaining way. 🙂 — Suzanne
I’m glad. Now you will pass a test on roadrunner vocalizations, which I am certain you will be having soon! 😉 😉
So this is a roadrunner! Never seen one except for the famous cartoon. What a proud bird! Thank You Cindy, brilliant narration!
Proud and tough as nails. My son and I once followed a roadrunner who was pecking and chasing a 6 ft gopher snake. The snake was out of his mind terrified. Our following interrupted the assault, but I always wondered how the roadrunner whould have eaten that snake!
This had to be quite a sight!
Ein grossartiger Bericht…
Danke schoen mein lieber Freund Ernst! <3
Aw, how cute. Cindy!
Go Meep-Meep!
He is the meeping one alright! Happy Saturday Tom~
Hope you’re having a good Saturday also, Cindy
Great photos. He’s very photogenic isn’t he.
He certainly is, and he agrees with both of us!
So these are the roadrunners, really good close ups and the links. Thanks!
So pleased you enjoyed and Happy Valentines Day! <3
Superb!
Awww, thank you Dina and Happy Valentines!
Happy Valentines to you too! <3 🙂
<3
Stunning pictures! And I had no idea they had such a range of vocalisation.
They are in the cuckoo bird family and are wonderful mimics. They seem to rule the ground at The Holler~
Great shots. I was once on the phone to a colleague in New Mexico, and he said, ‘I need to phone you back. There’s a roadrunner stuck in the back porch somehow.’ I syggested he simply painted a tunnel on the porch wall.
That is probably precisely what he did, but sadly, it wouldn’t fool the roadrunner! 😉 I was hoping I might hear from you because I know you like the meeping ones. So glad you stopped by and Happy Valentines Day!
Meep meep!
<3
Love Meep-Meep’s hairdo!
He is like an understated Ziggy Stardust wanna-be. Of course, I think he did the makeup and mohawk first…..
lol!
Handsome shots of him. He is not shy too and seems happy being a model 🙂 The sound is strange and indeed cleaver in trying to imitate the coyote.
Seriously, we thought, we had bobcats growling and an abandoned coyote pup crying, so the roadrunner certainly fooled us!
I love the close-ups!
Thank you and very pleased you do!
Beautiful!
The meeper thinks you have excellent taste~
Ha ha! I will have to listen to the sound track. I didn’t know they were such mimicers. All those cartoons and the joke went over my head!!
Clever weren’t they! Happy V Day John~
What a handsome bird!! The sound bit link – nice touch. Love the Mohawk!!
I agree, I think the mohawk goes well with the eye make up and is not overdone.
This was such a wonderful gift since the only roadrunner I had seen besides in the Sat morning kind were drawings. I may be wrong but they were by Audubon himself. His were beautiful but yours were the real deal, Cindy! Such a funny, smart, “evolved” bird! I would be like you taking photos and talking to him in his or her language! ♡♡ Enjoy your Valentine’s day weekend, Cindy!
Thank you Robin and you too my friend, Have a Very Happy Valentines Day! <3
I so enjoy seeing the roadrunners this close, didn’t they are so smar! 🙂
Thank you, Cindy for sharing these beautiful captures!
Thank you more for the very kind appreciation and Happy Valentines Day Amy! <3
Happy Valentines Day to you, too! <3
He looks so regal! Absolutely gorgeous!
He appears just on the brink of being high and mighty doesn’ he! 😉
They call me Baby Driver
And once upon a pair of wheels
Hit the road and I’m gone ah
What’s my number
I wonder how your engine feels.
Ba ba ba ba
Meep meep meep. 😀 😀
Your branching out, but I’m still with you! They were so freaking good!
Meep meep. 😉
😎 <3
All I can see out my window right now is winter white so meep meep is a beautiful sight indeed. I love the ingenuity of the animal world. Catbirds get me all of the time. They like to land behind me in the woods and “meow”. I should know by now that it will be a catbird rather than a kitty cat but I guess I am a silly human too.
We all are silly humans but only the smart ones know this! 😉 Happy Valentines Day Colleen~ <3
<3 Happy Valentine's Day to you too. <3 I hope you get to have a very silly day.
I hope so too and one that involves chocolate!
What a gem of a bird…you are so fortunate to have these fascinating creatures nearby. Thanks for bringing sunshine to my day, birds do it every time. My backyard Disneyland of aviaries are frantically feeding. Temps are to be single digits.
A lover of birds is a true friend of mine! Be well my friend~ <3 <3
I’m way late here, Cindy, sorry–but I have to add my compliments to the others’. I never realized what an array of vocalizations these guys are capable of, and what a great opportunity for your portrait shots! And movable mohawk, too–in your first shot it looks like he’s lost part of his head!
Yes, it does look like a bit of brain might be missing, because the bright blue skin matches the sky! I think maybe dinos were blue and he is just a surviving little dinosaur! Thanks for stopping by~
stunning pictures Cindy
So kind and so appreciated!
Lots of feathers – – – not much meat for Wile E. Coyote. Thanks for the rattlesnake video also.
I have actually never seen a coyote chasing a roadrunner, which doesn’t meant it doesn’t happen, but I agree with you, what’s the point? He’s such a skinny little dinosaur! Be well Wally~ <3
Great glam shots of this fascinating bird and I learn a lot from your posts too. How kind that you went looking to help the coyote pup and lucky that you found a mimic instead😊
Coyotes do abandon pups some times and they cry and hang around, but I have never seen one that wasn’t old enough to eventually get the hang of things, still if I did find one too young, I couldn’t let it starve. I would call Project Wildlife.
Beautiful photography, Cindy. First close-up I’ve seen of these birds. I saw them from quite a distance years ago when I lived in Arizona. Happy upcoming Valentine’s Day! 😀
Happy Valentines Day Linda, and I know you are enjoying your beautiful new home! <3
As soon as we get past the rain, the snow, and the cold temps, I’ll really enjoy it! 😀
Just a few minor obstacles! 😎
that was so interesting I had no idea…. mind you I wouldn’t likely run into one here in the city
thanks a whole bunch!
So glad you enjoyed and you are right, unlike coyotes who you may well find in an urban area, roadrunners are strictly creatures of the country, where they like to rule the roost!
Only saw one running across a road in AZ desert when we went out for back to back 6 week camping trips in dead of winter maybe they head your way to stay warmer 🙂
Wow, that camping trip sounds epic! I have never seen as many concentrated numbers of roadrunners as we have at The Holler, and of course, I love this. Happy Valentines Day Eunice! <3
xo
I can see (hear) how that growl could be unnerving at night!
Yes, it is pitch black out here at night, and growling creatures in the night would cause me to close the windows too!
WOW!! It really does look like he is wanting you to do a model photo shoot! I never knew they made coyote-pup-like cries. How neat! Have a lovely weekend, Cindy!
You too Teresa and thank you! I learn new things everyday from bloggers, so I am happy to return the favor~
Fun follies for friends at the Holler. 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day Cindy!
Oh, I am avid for awesome alliterations….. <3
benign banter begins!
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