A Southern California bird watcher stumbled onto a scene over the weekend that looked like it came straight out of a classic cartoon, except this time, the coyote appears to have won and there’s even an unexpected twist to the story.
Alexander deBarros, an avid birder who has been studying birds since he was 10 years old, was conducting a bird survey with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power at the Chatsworth Nature Preserve when he spotted something unusual.
A coyote was carrying a greater roadrunner in its mouth.
“I took just a couple of quick pictures just to confirm, is that actually a roadrunner in its mouth?” deBarros told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff. “And upon review, the answer was yes! We all freaked out as the coyote just ran over the hill and disappeared.”
Photographer and bird enthusiast Alexander deBarros captured a photo of a coyote with a greater roadrunner in its mouth in Chatsworth on Aug. 29, 2026. (@Hollywood_birder/Alexander deBarros)
DeBarros, who leads monthly bird walks with the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, is accustomed to identifying birds throughout Southern California. The coyote-roadrunner encounter, however, was something different.
While generations of viewers may associate the two animals with the famous Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, the real-life predator is actually capable of outrunning a greater roadrunner.
Coyotes are opportunistic feeders and typically prey on whatever food is readily available, including small and medium-sized mammals. A roadrunner that is caught off guard, injured or otherwise vulnerable can also become prey.
Photographer and bird enthusiast Alexander deBarros captured a photo of a coyote with a greater roadrunner in its mouth in Chatsworth on Aug. 29, 2026. (KTLA)
For deBarros, the timing of the sighting came with another remarkable coincidence.
His father, Brian Mainolfi, is an animator whose first Hollywood job was working with legendary animator Chuck Jones, creator of the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner characters.
The encounter happened the same weekend the characters’ latest spinoff, “Coyote vs. Acme,” hit theaters.
“It is kismet,” Mainolfi told KTLA. “He texted me the photo as soon as he took it. I laughed telling him this was the weekend ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ opened. He didn’t realize it was that same weekend.”
Curious about just how unusual his son’s photograph might be, Mainolfi began searching online and said he was unable to find a verified photograph showing a real coyote consuming a greater roadrunner.
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Whether the image is truly the first photograph documenting such an encounter has not been independently verified by KTLA.
For deBarros, though, the sighting serves as another example of how much wildlife there is to discover across Los Angeles, sometimes in unexpected places.
“Nature is all around us even in places we don’t expect, like L.A.,” he said. “Whenever you see something, it may be something that’s never been seen before.”
DeBarros also offers private birding tours in Los Angeles and elsewhere in Southern California and shares his birding adventures on Instagram under the handle @Hollywood_birder.
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