Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

19th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
A male Greater Roadrunner brings nesting material, spectacularly a colorful bunch of Desert Bladderpod, to its mate working on their nest.

I had been watching a mated pair of Greater Roadrunners building a stick nest in an Acacia Tree in the desert. The male, based on its larger size, was bringing nesting material, mostly weed stalks, leaves, and other desert debris with which the female was lining the botton of the nest. Imagine my surprise and delight when the male inexplicably showed up one time with a bill full of colorful Desert Bladderpod blossoms it had pulled up.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 03.2019
Date Uploaded: 07.2021
Photo Location: Near Scottsdale, Arizona, Arizona, United States of America
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Copyright: © Jim Burns