A cuckoo (family Cuculidae) with dark brown, white-streaked plumage, a crest, and a long tail that forages for food on the ground, where it is a fast runner. It is an opportunist carnivore, feeding mainly on insects but also on vertebrates including rattlesnakes. It is solitary or lives in pairs, and road runners mate for life. There are two species: the greater (Geococcyx californianus) and the lesser (G. velox) road runner, found in the southern USA and Mexico.