The Roadrunner is the best- known bird in America says Jim Cornett. He should know. He has studied the chicken-sized cuckoo for 15 years and is sharing what he has learned in presentations and in his book The Greater Roadrunner, now in a new and expanded second edition.

Desert aficionados are probably aware that roadrunners readily consume venomous creatures including rattlesnakes, black widows and scorpions. What is less well known is roadrunners are much better runners than flyers, readily enter homes, mate for life and offer gifts as a prelude to mating. They are, in this regard, almost human.

Mr. Cornett holds both B.A. and M.S. degrees in biology and is the founder and principle biologist for JWC Ecological Consultants, Inc., an ecological consulting firm specializing in endangered species studies in the deserts of the American Southwest. With thirty-six science and natural history books to his credit, he is one of the Southwest’s best-known naturalists. He lives in Palm Springs with his wife Terry.