Roadrunner chicks- Can I buy Eggs or breeding pairs?

[kcclark66204]

i know how it feels to want a bird you cant have cause of the migratory bird law , one i really wanted was the loggerhead shrike they are pretty amazing birds and so are road runners

When we were in Big Bend Nat'l Park, we watched and heard a loggerhead shrike sing like a Mocking bird. If we had not seen and heard it we would not have believed it.

 

[RockGreytemple]

We started with BeepBeep, a year later he mated with MeepMeep. We have dried grubworms out for them, and decided to limit them if they seemed dependant…but they are both seen with live things in their beeks several times a day. We have them all winter…and all the chicks, and the one year old just had a brood which I thought was “too young”. Meep and Beep try to run the offspring off, but with water and worms available on both sides of the house, we seem to be the corner if 3 territories. Now we have the marathon (or “race”) of roadrunners, well over 6 come several times a day, and often get underfoot. The will go between my feet even when I am running a table saw (outside is more comfortable workspace. Seldom do we go 10 minutes without one, and they will come to the window if the dried worms run low. I do NOT feel comfortable approaching them, and wear safety glasses when they congregate near me.
Our Airbnb guests are fascinated.
We are 2 miles from the West (main) gate of Joshua Tree National Park…and if I was not so tech challenged, I would set up wildlife cams. (We have hundreds of other wildlife in our yard). We have water for the coyote 350 ft away on their ancenpstrial path, and we plan to set up the “night eyes” to discourage them from coming to our yard for a snack. We have a 6 ft rattlesnake (local rattlesnakes are “soundless”, Rangers explained that the rattle ones get killed by “people”) and a single Desert tortoise that visits for an hour a year or so and then scurries (they are FAST!) away into the heavily vegetated desert chapparel. This year I followed for an hour 20 ft away until it dodged the sun in a hole. I checked the hole hourly and the next morning he/she had moved on. So many hawks and falcon, the hundreds of baby quail (ping-pong balls running on toothpicks, up to 20-25 a pair of parents)…get decimated quickly. Some kind of disease wiped out the cottontail a year ago and doves this year…but our solitary BIG Jackrabbit (mistaken for German Sheppard more than once) has now become a dozen babies and juveniles that are not as shy as we wish.
If you can find me on FB, we have several videos and a lot of stills…

 

[RoadrunnerRoadrunner]

I live out in the country in an area where there are a lot of rattlesnakes...especially now that it is Spring. I have seen maybe two roadrunners out here but would love to have more. I have a five year old daughter, so this time of the year causes a lot of tension for everyone when she is outside running around.

Is there a place I can buy Roadrunner birds or eggs and raise them to keep them on our ranch? If you have ANY information...websites, phone numbers, etc. I would be SO appreciative and you would be substantially compensated for your help. Please let me know if you can help us!

I know it's been a long time since your post but I just had a roadrunner lay 2 eggs on my porch. Would you be interested still?

 

[Qwerty3159]

I know it's been a long time since your post but I just had a roadrunner lay 2 eggs on my porch. Would you be interested still?

Awful idea. This would be highly illegal.

 

[RoadrunnerRoadrunner]

I live out in the country in an area where there are a lot of rattlesnakes...especially now that it is Spring. I have seen maybe two roadrunners out here but would love to have more. I have a five year old daughter, so this time of the year causes a lot of tension for everyone when she is outside running around.

Is there a place I can buy Roadrunner birds or eggs and raise them to keep them on our ranch? If you have ANY information...websites, phone numbers, etc. I would be SO appreciative and you would be substantially compensated for your help. Please let me know if you can help us!

Hi we had two road runner eggs, the mother just hatched them and speed off.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Hi we had two road runner eggs, the mother just hatched them and speed off.

If this is a legitimate situation where the mother has abandoned her young (unlikely, unless you keep interfering) then you need to contact local wildlife agencies.
Not offer the young to strangers online.

 

[Rancher Helper]

Thank you for all the information. I too want help the local population of roadrunners in Montgomery Texas.

 

[vneves666]

Roadrunners are native birds in the USA and you may not legally posses, harass (etc etc) a roadrunner or its eggs. This is a federal law as these birds are protected under the MBTA of 1918. It is heavily enforced and is punishable by jail time and up to $10,000 in fines.

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html


I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, sorry!

Why is okay to rehabilitate and keep injured wild pigeons as pets, when they are native birds in the USA? For example, palomacy.org encourages people to adopt their wild caught pigeons. Isn't that illegal just like keeping wild birds like roadrunners as pets?

 

[Qwerty3159]

Why is okay to rehabilitate and keep injured wild pigeons as pets, when they are native birds in the USA? For example, palomacy.org encourages people to adopt their wild caught pigeons. Isn't that illegal just like keeping wild birds like roadrunners as pets?

Pigeons aren’t native birds!
Mourning doves, white winged doves, etc are, and that’s why whenever I see a thread pop up with people trying to rehab them I advise them to try and bring it to a responsible wildlife rehabber.

 

[casportpony]

Why is okay to rehabilitate and keep injured wild pigeons as pets, when they are native birds in the USA? For example, palomacy.org encourages people to adopt their wild caught pigeons. Isn't that illegal just like keeping wild birds like roadrunners as pets?

Because pigeons are not on this list of protected migratory bird species.