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National Geographic
25-06-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
A roadrunner in your neighborhood? It's a growing possibility.
The greater roadrunner is native to the American Southwest and parts of northern Mexico. But now it's turning up more frequently in new areas. Photograph By Konrad Wothe/Picture Press/Redux About a decade ago, Mary Taylor Young and her husband were pulling into the driveway of their cabin, a property nestled at 6,700 feet, in southern Colorado. Suddenly, they saw a face that they weren't expecting: a roadrunner, with its signature spiky head crest and baby blue coloring around the eyes. 'My husband and I were both like, 'Oh, my God, what is a roadrunner doing here?'' Young, a biologist and nature writer, says. ''Dude, you belong in the desert. What are you doing?'' Young says its wasn't unheard of to see roadrunners in and around the nearby town of Trinidad, Colorado, which sits at about 6,000 feet in the northernmost part of the roadrunner's range in the state. However, she was surprised by this higher altitude sighting, something that's becoming more common. The greater roadrunner is native to the American Southwest and parts of northern Mexico. This bipedal bird can often be seen running through cities like Albuquerque, Phoenix, and El Paso, searching for small lizards, mice, insects, and other food sources. But now it's turning up more frequently in new areas as it expands its range due to climate change. A greater roadrunner hunts a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake in Arizona (left), and munches on a worm (right). Photograph By Alan Murphy/ BIA/ Minden Pictures (Top) (Left) and Photograph By Hal Beral/VWPics/Redux (Bottom) (Right) Young has documented the species that visit her property over the last three decades, chronicling them in her book, Bluebird Seasons: Witnessing Climate Change in My Piece of the Wild. She says roadrunner sightings are steadily increasing on her property and in and around Trinidad. Mike Rader, wildlife education supervisor with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, is seeing similar changes in his state. 'There have been increased sightings of greater roadrunners in Kansas, especially in the last couple of decades,' he says. 'While I don't know if it is a true range expansion, they have been reported further north in the state, even into central Kansas.' According to maps provided by Chuck Otte, a Kansas bird record keeper, there had been credible historical sightings reported for the bird in 26 Kansas counties by 1989. By 2025, that number had grown to over 50 counties. Rader says the swell in reporting could be in part due to more widespread internet and greater cell phone and camera access in recent decades. Still, 'in my gut, I do feel that there are more here now than when I started birding over 40 years ago,' he says. Nate Swick, an ornithologist and digital communications manager for the American Birding Association, says it's happening in Missouri too. 'Back when I was growing up in southwest Missouri in the '90s, roadrunners were really scarce,' he says. 'Sometimes people would see them down around Branson, but they were few and far between. Now 30 years later, they're fairly regular nesting birds in that part of the state, though still infrequently seen.' He adds that the birds are turning up further north and east in recent years. Swick recalls one particular experience seeing a pair in a neighborhood in Springfield, a town in the Ozark Mountains, during a trip home in 2014. 'It's a bird you usually associate with desert landscapes, so it was wild to see them walking around on green lawns,' he says. According to ABC Birds, the greater roadrunner has already extended its range eastward as far as Arkansas and Louisiana over the last century. The National Audubon Society predicts that the species will further expand its northern range by 27 percent with 3 degrees of warming, a threshold that some scientists expect us to cross as early as 2070. This would mean more roadrunner sightings in places like Houston, northern Nevada, and up Colorado's front range nearly as far north as Denver. Meanwhile, in places like New Mexico, where the roadrunner reigns as the state bird, it seems to be benefitting from even drier conditions, which are expected to increase with climate change. According to Jon Hayes, director of Audubon Southwest, roadrunner populations spiked in the state in the 2010s, which he says is likely correlated to drought conditions experienced across much of the Southwest in that timeframe. 'And that's the big story here with the roadrunner is that as a changing climate pushes more hot and dry conditions, those critters that are adapted to hot and dry conditions are going to probably do pretty good in the short term there,' he says. While most famous for its fast feet, the roadrunner can also fly. Photograph By Alan Murphy/ BIA/ Minden Pictures Seeing new roadrunner neighbors moving into communities might appeal to many people. Rader says most Kansans who come across these quirky birds are 'truly excited' to encounter them. 'Personally, I always enjoy seeing them,' he says. 'They are still considered a novelty here in Kansas.' While a drier and hotter landscape puts many wildlife at risk, roadrunners can take advantage of a warming world thanks to number of adaptive traits. For one, they're able to obtain water from their food sources instead of drinking and can secrete a concentrated salt solution through a gland near their eyes, helping them to conserve water. Plus, roadrunner's have one more advantage when it comes to taking on environmental challenges that might stymy other species—their bird brains. 'They're smart and adaptable,' Swift concludes. However, Hayes warns that the conditions that are helping roadrunners expand their range aren't worth celebrating. 'We don't necessarily want to see those arid conditions extended to too many of those areas, because the species that are in those areas are going to lose out,' Hayes says. In fact, the National Audubon Society's 2019 Survival by Degrees report found that two-thirds of North American birds are at risk of extinction from global temperature rise. 'Whenever we're thinking about the change in climate, we do have to recognize that there are going to be winners and losers from this,' Hayes says. 'Roadrunners are one that likely benefit from more of the country looking like the arid Southwest.' Climate change is expanding the road runner's range. Photograph By Alan Murphy/ BIA/ Minden Pictures Young believes one of these 'losers' in her area is the broad-tailed hummingbird, a species she is seeing less frequently at her cabin's feeders. Meanwhile, another hummingbird species—the black-chinned—seems to be becoming more dominant there. The broad-tailed hummingbird, whose fragmented range is limited mostly to mountains in the West and parts of Mexico, is highly vulnerable to climate change, according to Audubon. And as savvy as they are, even roadrunners will eventually top out when it comes to spreading to new habitats, Hayes predicts. 'Sure, they'll expand north, but they're not going to go up into the Rocky Mountains,' he notes. 'I mean, they're not going to go up into the pine forest. They'll hit their limits as well.'
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Beautiful Wildlife Photos: 15 Winners Of Nature Photographer
Puffin Courtship, Finalist, Birds category, a Puffin's courtship display during mating season in Newfoundland, Canada Karsten Mosebach - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 Documenting the beauty and diversity of our planet's wildlife, the winning images of the GDT Nature Photographer Of The Year competition witness breathtaking landscapes, fascinating behavior of wild animals and gorgeous glimpses of Earth's mysterious wonders. From birds courting to a curious lion cub meeting a turtle for the first time and a perfectly camouflaged rock ptarmigan in the snow-covered Swiss Alps (winner of the jury prize), the winning photos were selected from more than 8,000 entries submitted by photographers from 11 countries across seven categories that include Birds, Mammals, Other Animals, Plants & Fungi, Landscapes, Nature's Studio and the Special Category. Photographer Konrad Wothe from Germany won this year's title with his spectacular sharp-focused, split-second image Dipper flying through waterfall, taken as a small Dipper bird was flying back and forth to a nest tucked away safely behind a dense curtain of water. The GDT (German Society for Nature Photography) that organizes the annual Nature Photographer Of The Year contest is a members-only association founded in 1971 that currently has over 2,000 members from Germany and 26 other countries. Dipper Flying Through Waterfall, Overall winner and winner of the Birds category Konrad Wothe, GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 A Dipper bird flies through a waterfall in Germany's Bavarian Alps. Konrad Wothe explains: 'It's been over 20 years since I first witnessed a dipper darting through a waterfall, flying back and forth to a nest tucked away safely behind the dense curtain of water. 'Two years ago, I had the good fortune to encounter another dipper nesting behind a waterfall — this one also regularly shot through the curtain of water. Interestingly, the bird alternated between the wet approach and flying around to the side of the waterfall. Frustratingly, the bird didn't always follow the same path and getting the correct focus and perfect composition took thousands of exposures. I lost count of the number of trips I took to the dipper's nesting site before I was reasonably satisfied with the result.' Patterns In The Snow, Category winner and Prize of the Jury winner, Birds category Levi Fitze - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 The image shows a perfectly camouflaged rock ptarmigan bird in the snow-covered Swiss Alps. Territorial Fight, Runner up, Birds category Christian Hoefs - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 These two male common redstarts are having a territorial fight in a meadow orchard. Multitasking, Finalist, Birds category Wolfram Nagel - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 Marsh male warbler simultaneously serenades its partner while grabbing a quick snack. Chamois, Winner, Mammals Category. Radomir Jakubowski - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 This chamois was photographed through blades of dew-covered grass in the Vosges, France. Anybody Home? Finalist, Mammals category Jens Cullmann - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 A curious young lion plays with a tortoise in the Kalahari Desert. Red Fox In Heathland, Finalist, Mammals category GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 The photographer had a face-to-face surprise encounter with this red fox while on the lookout for fallow deer and stonechats. Life And Death, Finalist, Mammals category Ulrich Heermann - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 A snow leopard in Hemis National Park tumbles down a slope as it attacks a stray small dog from the nearby village of Rumbak in Ladakh, India. The dog escaped with injuries from bites and was treated. West Coast Dragon, Winner, Other Animals category Dr. Gerald Haas - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 Wind and waves create striking patterns in the sand along the rugged west coast of Spain's Fuerteventura. This dragonfly was a perfect eye-catcher. Weevil, Runner up, Other Animals| category Torsten Christ - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 A weevil walks on the stem of a mushroom. Stars Above, Winner, Plants and Funghi category Paul Kornacker - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 An upward look at Quiver trees in Namibia near Keetmanshoop. These trees are native to Southern Africa. Wild garlic, Finalist, Plants and Funghi category Karsten Mosebach - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 Wild garlic flowers in Teutoburg Forest on an early spring morning with fine mist hanging in the trees. Meadow Flamenco, Finalist, Plants and Funghi category Radomir Jakubowski - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 Like a scene of 'flamenco in a meadow', this Pasque flower grows in the German Bliesgau of Saarland. Deforestation, Winner, Landscapes category Hanneke Van Camp - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 Even today, old-growth forests in Sweden are regularly cut down and replaced with commercial plantations. 'Undisturbed forests can harbour over 2,000 species (many of which are endangered) and must be preserved at all costs,' says Hanneke Van Camp . Abstraction, Winner, Nature's Studio category Katja Manski - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 A long-exposure photograph weaves the movements of the waves, reeds and camera into an abstract image. Misty Morning, Winner, Special category Andreas Volz - GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025 Dewdrop-covered spider webs blanket a field on a misty morning in Kochelmoos. An exhibition presenting the 104 prize-winning images selected by the international jury of experts will tour through Germany and Europe. The GDT Nature Photographer of the Year contest is open to members of the society, while the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is open to all photographers based in Europe.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
The German Society for Nature Photography announces its 2025 competition winners
The German Society of Nature Photographers (GDT) revealed the winners and finalists of its annual Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Unlike its European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, open to all European residents, this competition is a members-only affair. This year, 507 GDT members from 11 countries submitted over 8,000 images for consideration. Following a pre-selection process from a jury, members were allowed to vote for 10 images, each, across categories including Birds, Mammals, Landscapes and Other Animals. Patience and persistence paid off for Konrad Wothe. He was declared the Overall Winner for his image "Dipper flying through waterfall." A vision spanning over two decades, Wothe credits advances in camera technology for finally making the shot a reality. He initially attempted to capture his vision on film. It took thousands of exposures and countless trips to the dipper's nesting site to get the desired result. To learn more about Wothe's background, the jury and to view all of the selected images, from the present and past, make sure to visit the GDT's website. Image description: White-throated dipper flying through waterfall. Image description: Territorial fight between two male redstarts in the orchard in front of my house. Image description: Puffin courtship display during the mating season in Newfoundland. Image description: Chamois photographed through blades of dew-covered grass in the Vosges. Image description: An ibex silhouetted against a lake and the blue evening sky in the Alps. Image description: Wind and waves create striking patterns in the sand along the west coast of Fuerteventura. This dragonfly was a perfect eye-catcher. Image description: Unidentified weevil (Curculionidae) on the stem of a mushroom. Image description: A beautiful rainbow of colours caused by the diffraction of sunlight on the fine, silken threads of a spider's web. Image description: Quiver trees (Aloe dichotoma) are native to southern Africa. This photo was taken in Namibia near Keetmanshoop. Image description: I discovered this spoonleaf sundew in a bog in North Rhine-Westphalia. Image description: Even today, old-growth forests in Sweden are regularly cut down and replaced with commercial plantations. Undisturbed forests can harbour over 2000 species (many of which are endangered) and must be preserved at all costs. Image description: For just a brief moment, the sun broke through the dark clouds and illuminated a waterfall on the Faroe Islands. Image description: Photographed during a doors off helicopter flight over Iceland's highlands at an altitude of approx. 300 metres - a rare spectacle. Image description: Long-exposure photography unifies the movements of the waves, reeds and camera into an abstract image (Bornholm). Image description: Spider webs in Kochelmoos.
