List of birds by flight speed

Falco peregrinus has pointed long wings making it a heavy wing loading, and rapid wingbeats provide an energetically expensive high speed.
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This is a list of the fastest flying birds in the world. A bird's velocity is necessarily variable; a hunting bird will reach much greater speeds while diving to catch prey than when gliding. The bird with the greatest airspeed velocity is the peregrine falcon, able to exceed 320 km/h (200 mph) in its hunting dives.[1][2] The greatest self-powered horizontal flight speed is achieved by the white-throated needletail, capable of such speeds as 169 km/h (105 mph), typically during mating rituals.

Birds by flight speed

Bird Image Species Family Average horizontal speed Maximum horizontal speed Average diving speed Maximum airspeed Flight
Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus Falconidae 65–90 km/h[3]
40-56 mph 		105–110 km/h[3]
65-68 mph		 180 km/h [4]
112 mph 		389 km/h [5]
242 mph		 High speed dive - pointed long wings
Golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos Accipitridae 45–51 km/h[6]
28-32 mph		 129 km/h[6]
80 mph		 241 km/h [7]
150 mph		 320 km/h[6]
200 mph
Grey-headed albatross Thalassarche Chrysostoma Diomedeidae 127 km/h[8][9][note 1]
78.9 mph		 2.2m (7"2') wingspan allows for high power use from wind.
Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus Falconidae 187–209 km/h [10]
116-130 mph		 209 km/h [10][11]
130 mph		 High speed dive - pointed long wings
White-throated needletail Hirundapus caudacutus Apodidae 169 km/h[12]

[note 2]
105 mph

 High speed wings
Swift Apus apus Apodidae [13] 171 km/h
106 mph		 High speed wings
Eurasian hobby Falco subbuteo Falconidae[14] 161 km/h
100 		Can sometimes outfly the swift
Frigatebird Fregata Fregatidae[15] 153 km/h
95 mph		 Slow gliding/soaring high aspect ratio
Spur-winged goose Plectropterus Anatidae[16] 142 km/h
88 mph		 High speed wings
Red-breasted merganser Mergus serrator Anatidae[17] 130 km/h
81 mph		 High aspect ratio wings
Canvasback Aythya valisineria Anatidae[18] 116 km/h
73 mph		 High speed wings
Eider Somateria mollissima Anatidae[19] 113 km/h
70 mph		 High speed wings
Teal Anas crecca Anatidae 109 km/h
69 mph		 High aspect ratio wings

Notes

  1. ↑ Sustained ground speed for approximately nine hours with no rest on high tailwinds during an Antarctic storm.
  2. ↑ The British Broadcast Corporation warns from taking this value too seriously, as the methods employed to measure it have never been published, rendering its verification difficult.

References

  1. ↑ "Basic Facts About Peregrine Falcon". Defenders of Wildlife. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (January 15, 2008). "All About the Peregrine Falcon". Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Fastest on Earth: Malik fuel". Extreme Science. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Elert, Glenn; et als.. "Speed of the Fastest Bird". Physics factbook: An Encyclopedia of Scientific Essays. n.d. OCLC 731858885. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  5. ↑ Tom Harpole (March 2005). "Falling with the Falcon". Air & Space magazine. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Kari Kirschbaum and Alicia Ivory (2002). "Aquila chrysaetosgolden eagle". The Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Guinness Records - Fastest Bird Level Flight". Guinness World Records Limited. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Catry, Paulo; Phillips, Richard (13 May 2004). "Sustained fast travel by a gray-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) riding an antarctic storm". The Auk. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[1208:SFTBAG]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Diving speeds and angles of a gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)". Jeb.biologists.org. 1998-07-01. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  11. ↑ Tucker, VA; Cade TJ; Tucker AE. (July 1998). "Diving speeds and angles of a gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)". J Exp Biol. 201 (Pt 13) (Pt 13): 2061–2070. PMID 9622578.
  12. ↑ Jody Bourton (2 March 2010). "Supercharged swifts take flight speed record". BBC Earth News. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "swifts". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  14. ↑ Hobby, Falco subbuteo
  15. ↑ Animal Corner ; Sea Birds Frigate Bird Galapagos Sea Birds - The Great Frigate Bird and the Magnificent Frigate Bird
  16. ↑ Free find Spur-Winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis - Kenya Birds
  17. ↑ The cornell lab of Ornithology - Cornell University Bird Guide - Red-breasted Merganser
  18. ↑ Ducks Unlimited - Wet-lands conversation Canvasback
  19. ↑ Family XXXIX. ANATINAE. DUCKS. Family THE EIDER DUCK. [Common Eider.] Genus FULIGULA MOLLISSIMA, Linn. [Somateria mollissima.]


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