While drought conditions have presented a hardship to many, it has allowed the roadrunner to flourish and increase in numbers.
The roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico and a sign of good luck.
“You’ll see them riding on the sidewalk,” Roberto Madrid, an Albuquerque resident, told KRQE recently. “You’ll see them in the street, but mostly I have been seeing them around this Bosque area. It’s definitely always lucky to see them, you want to make sure you cross its path because good luck will come to you. It’s always awesome to see those still running around.”
Data shows the population of roadrunners has nearly doubled since the 1960s. The highest numbers ever recorded were in 2015 and 2016, which also coincides with the state experiencing severe drought conditions.
“What we’re seeing with climate change in the southwest is conditions becoming hotter and drier and more places looking like those hot dry conditions of the southwest, and the roadrunner likes that,” Jonathan Hayes, executive director of Audubon Southwest, told KRQE.
Hayes noted that the roadrunner is also benefitting from urbanization in and around Albuquerque.
“Lizards, rodents, those things are often associated with neighborhoods in Albuquerque,” he said. “Those are the same food sources that the roadrunner needs.”
Roadrunners can be seen frequently these days from the desert to the sidewalks. They’ve also been spotted in other parts of the country.
“We’re actually seeing their range expand the last few years, the last few decades," Hayes said. "They have actually moved into Louisiana and Missouri where they haven’t been previously."