Adventures in the World of Travel and Entertainment™ / Greater Palm Springs
Bird Watching With The Boys At The Triangle Inn
Visitors to the Triangle Inn Palm Springs will tell you that real Road Runners bear little resemblance to Wiley Coyote's popular cartoon adversary.
They can say that with certainty - because at the Triangle Inn, they get to see real Road Runners up close and personal, every single day.
One of the many traditions that Triangle Inn owners Michael Green and Stephen Boyd inherited, and elected to continue when they bought the property, involves feeding the local Road Runner population. "The previous owners told us they had been feeding the birds themselves for almost twelve years," Green said. "And there is no telling how long the birds had been visiting the landmark triangle house prior to that."
"Everybody enjoys the daily visits of the Road Runners," Boyd says, "As many as five or six come pretty much every day in the Spring and Summer. The mother birds even bring their babies with them!"
How do the guys know the birds are ready for a meal?
"Most often the birds will knock on the glass side of the house to get our attention." Green reports, "And if we don't respond, they'll fly to the top of the house and fly down into the pool area. Then they'll just stand there and make their unique beeping noise (a combination of the birds' dovelike coos and a clattering sound they make by rolling their mandibles together) until we come out to feed them."
"They're pretty persistent," Boyd chuckles. "When we first moved in, I was out back putting some boxes into the dumpster. I kept getting hit with small pieces of gravel. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Finally I went inside and got Michael to come out and help me figure out what was going on."
The Culprit,' it turned out, was a hungry Road Runner on the roof. "As soon as we brought it something to eat, it stopped throwing gravel down."
And what do the popular birds eat?
"We feed them small pieces of beef," Green says. "Road Runners are meat eaters. No trays of bird seed like in the cartoon for these guys. In the wild, the birds eat lizards, snakes, frogs, even mice."
The birds have become so used to their benefactors that they take the food right out of their hands. "They were more skittish at first," Boyd says, "But we kept talking to them and they finally came around. They are very sensitive to sound, and when we talk to them it seems to make them feel more comfortable."
"Lots of the guys take pictures of the birds, or of us feeding them," Green notes. "Some even want to do the feeding themselves. It's really amazing how much everyone enjoys their daily visits."
In addition to the birds that drop by on a regular basis, this Summer the Triangle Inn actually became the hosts to one particular family of Road Runners. "One of the females built her nest in the Bougonvillia just outside our front door. It was in the trellis above the sidewalk so we could see up into it from below. She raised three babies."
To give you an idea of how attached Michael and Stephen have become to the birds, you have only to talk to their painting contractor. He was hired to paint the exterior of the property and to replace all the decorative wood on the outside of the house. Everywhere, that is, except where the Road Runners live.
"We asked the guys to wait on that portion until the babies were up and out of the nest," Boyd said. "They were great. They said they totally understood, and even agreed to finish everything else and come back later if necessary to do that part of the house."
VIDEO TOUR:
They can say that with certainty - because at the Triangle Inn, they get to see real Road Runners up close and personal, every single day.
One of the many traditions that Triangle Inn owners Michael Green and Stephen Boyd inherited, and elected to continue when they bought the property, involves feeding the local Road Runner population. "The previous owners told us they had been feeding the birds themselves for almost twelve years," Green said. "And there is no telling how long the birds had been visiting the landmark triangle house prior to that."
"Everybody enjoys the daily visits of the Road Runners," Boyd says, "As many as five or six come pretty much every day in the Spring and Summer. The mother birds even bring their babies with them!"
How do the guys know the birds are ready for a meal?
"Most often the birds will knock on the glass side of the house to get our attention." Green reports, "And if we don't respond, they'll fly to the top of the house and fly down into the pool area. Then they'll just stand there and make their unique beeping noise (a combination of the birds' dovelike coos and a clattering sound they make by rolling their mandibles together) until we come out to feed them."
"They're pretty persistent," Boyd chuckles. "When we first moved in, I was out back putting some boxes into the dumpster. I kept getting hit with small pieces of gravel. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Finally I went inside and got Michael to come out and help me figure out what was going on."
The Culprit,' it turned out, was a hungry Road Runner on the roof. "As soon as we brought it something to eat, it stopped throwing gravel down."
And what do the popular birds eat?
"We feed them small pieces of beef," Green says. "Road Runners are meat eaters. No trays of bird seed like in the cartoon for these guys. In the wild, the birds eat lizards, snakes, frogs, even mice."
The birds have become so used to their benefactors that they take the food right out of their hands. "They were more skittish at first," Boyd says, "But we kept talking to them and they finally came around. They are very sensitive to sound, and when we talk to them it seems to make them feel more comfortable."
"Lots of the guys take pictures of the birds, or of us feeding them," Green notes. "Some even want to do the feeding themselves. It's really amazing how much everyone enjoys their daily visits."
In addition to the birds that drop by on a regular basis, this Summer the Triangle Inn actually became the hosts to one particular family of Road Runners. "One of the females built her nest in the Bougonvillia just outside our front door. It was in the trellis above the sidewalk so we could see up into it from below. She raised three babies."
To give you an idea of how attached Michael and Stephen have become to the birds, you have only to talk to their painting contractor. He was hired to paint the exterior of the property and to replace all the decorative wood on the outside of the house. Everywhere, that is, except where the Road Runners live.
"We asked the guys to wait on that portion until the babies were up and out of the nest," Boyd said. "They were great. They said they totally understood, and even agreed to finish everything else and come back later if necessary to do that part of the house."
VIDEO TOUR:
Nicholas Snow tours the Triangle Inn in this episode of Snowbiz247. Small screen. Big host. Worldwide audience.
Find more photos like this on NotesFromPalmSprings.com
Photos are © 2002 Stephen S. Boyd
For more information, contact the Triangle Inn at at 760-322-7993 or toll-free at 800-732-7555.
Official Triangle Inn Web SiteComment
-
Comment by Vicki on June 15, 2009 at 12:56am - Being from Ohio, and having only seen the bird on The Roadrunner Cartoon, I am thrilled every time I see an authentic road runner in my yard. There was one who visited the big tree in front of my patio and liked to run up and down the curvy branches and then take a little rest up on a tree limb, and then run up and down some more, a little boring I would think, but fascinating to watch. We had a particularly large one in my complex in Indian Wells and it (he? she?) was pretty brassy and would come close but not too close. Many times I would creep up on it to try to take a picture and it would take off in the opposite direction. We only see individual ones here, but no baby ones, so far. I don't think I can recognize their call...but we sure do have way too many airplane sized crows and who can miss that "caw" sound? They get together and dive bomb us and are so loud it's frightening; reminiscent of "The Birds".
Photos
@NotesRightNow
@NotesRightNow
Loading feed
Music
@PowerToBeStrong
Loading feed
Follow NicholasSnow.com
Loading feed
Badge
© 2010 Created by Nicholas Snow
You need to be a member of NotesFromPalmSprings.com to add comments!
Join this Ning Network