Generally birds follow the facetious advice often given to pilots -- "fly low and slow." Most cruise speeds are in the 20-to-30-mph range, with an eider duck having the fastest accurately clocked air speed of about 47 mph. During a chase, however, speeds increase; ducks, for example, can fly 60 mph or even faster, and it has been reported that a Peregrine Falcon can stoop at speeds of 200 mph (100 mph may be nearer the norm). Interestingly, there is little relationship between the size of a bird and how fast it flies. Both hummingbirds and geese can reach roughly the same maximum speeds. There is, of course, a considerable difference between the speed at which a bird can fly and the speed at which it normally does fly. When the bird is "around home" one might expect it to do one of two things, minimize its energy use per unit time, that is, minimize its metabolic rate, or m e the distance it travels per unit of energy expended. A vulture loitering in the sky in search of prey might, like the pilot of an observation aircraft, maximize endurance; a seabird traveling to distant foraging grounds might, like a Concorde encountering headwinds on a transoceanic flight, maximize range. Staying up longest does not necessarily mean going farthest. A bird might be able to stay aloft 6 hours at 15 mph (maximum endurance, covering 90 miles) or 5 hours at 20 mph (maximum range, covering 100 miles). Birds can also choose to maximize speed, as when being chased by a predator or racing to defend a territory. Or they can choose some compromise between speed and range. In order to determine what birds normally do, Gary Schnell and Jenna Hellack of the University of Oklahoma used Doppler radar, a device similar to that used by police to catch speeders, to measure the ground speeds of a dozen species of seabirds (gulls, terns, and a skimmer) near their colony. They also measured wind speeds with an anemometer, and used those measurements to estimate the airspeeds of the birds. (The wind speeds were generally measured closer to the ground than the birds were, which led to some errors of estimation, since friction with the surface slows air movements near the ground.) Airspeeds were found to be mostly in the 10-to-40-mph range. The power requirements of each bird at each speed could be calculated, and that information was used to establish that the birds were generally compromising between maximizing their range and minimizing their metabolic rates with more emphasis on the former. Airspeeds varied a great deal, but near the minimum metabolic rate rather large changes in airspeed did not require dramatic rises in energy consumption. For example, a gull whose most efficient loiter airspeed was 22 mph could fly at anything between 15 and 28 mph without increasing its metabolic rate more than 15 percent. Most birds fly below 500 feet except during migration. There is no reason to expend the energy to go higher -- and there may be dangers, such as exposure to higher winds or to the sharp vision of hawks. When migrating, however, birds often do climb to relatively great heights, possibly to avoid dehydration in the warmer air near the ground. Migrating birds in the Caribbean are mostly observed around 10,000 feet, although some are found half and some twice that high. Generally long-distance migrants seem to start out at about 5,000 feet and then progressively climb to around 20,000 feet. Just like jet aircraft, the optimum cruise altitude of migrants increases as their "fuel" is used up and their weight declines. Vultures sometimes rise over 10,000 feet in order to scan larger areas for food (and to watch the behavior of distant vultures for clues to the location of a feast). Perhaps the most impressive altitude record is that of a flock of Whooper Swans which was seen on radar arriving over Northern Ireland on migration and was visually identified by an airline pilot at 29,000 feet. Birds can fly at altitudes that would be impossible for bats, since bird lungs can extract a larger fraction of oxygen from the air than can mammal lungs. SEE: Wing Shapes and Flight; Soaring; Flying in Vee Formation; Adaptations for Flight. Copyright ® 1988 by Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, and Darryl Wheye.
FAQs
How Fast and High Do Birds Fly? ›
For example, a gull whose most efficient loiter airspeed was 22 mph could fly at anything between 15 and 28 mph without increasing its metabolic rate more than 15 percent. Most birds fly below 500 feet except during migration.
How high do birds normally fly? ›Many bird species live in habitats that are over 13,123 feet (4,000 m) above sea level, and others routinely fly to altitudes of approximately 10,000 to 13,000 feet (3,000 to 4,000 m), especially when they're migrating, said Graham Scott, an assistant professor of biology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.
What is the max speed a bird can fly? › What's the highest a bird can fly? ›Rüppell's griffon vultures have been documented as having reached heights of over 36,000 feet (10,973 meters) above sea level. This discovery came at a cost; an individual was sucked into the engine of an aircraft flying at 36,100 feet (11,003 meters) above Cote d'Ivoire.
What bird can fly over 100 mph? ›| Common name | Species | Maximum airspeed |
|---|---|---|
| Gyrfalcon | Falco rusticolus | 187–209 km/h 116–130 mph |
| White-throated needletail | Hirundapus caudacutus | 169 km/h 105 mph |
| Common swift | Apus apus | 166 km/h 103 mph |
| Eurasian hobby | Falco subbuteo | 159 km/h 99 mph |
Birds are able to fly for a surprisingly long time. The Common swift stays in the air for roughly 10 months non-stop. The measured record is 314 days. They hunt, eat, drink and sleep while flying.
How fast can a hummingbird fly? ›Along with being agile, hummingbirds have speed and stamina. They have been clocked at nearly 30 mph in direct flight and more than 45 mph during courtship dives. Not only do hummingbirds move from place to place quickly, but their body parts also move rather fast as well.
Which bird has highest speed? ›The Peregrine falcon is the fastest bird – and in fact the fastest animal on Earth – when in a dive. As it executes this dive, the Peregrine falcon soars to a great height, then dives steeply at speeds of up to 240 miles (386 km) per hour.
How high do eagles fly? ›High Flyers
Bald eagles can fly 20-40 miles per hour (32-64 km) in normal flight and can dive at speeds of 75-100 mph (120-160 km). They can fly at altitudes of 10,000 feet or more and can soar in the air for hours riding on natural wind currents and thermal updrafts.
The peregrine falcon is best known for its diving speed during flight—which can reach more than 300 km (186 miles) per hour—making it not only the world's fastest bird but also the world's fastest animal. Coloration is a bluish gray above, with black bars on the white to yellowish white underparts.
What bird stays in the air for 5 years? ›
Albatrosses are masters of soaring flight, able to glide over vast tracts of ocean without flapping their wings. So fully have they adapted to their oceanic existence that they spend the first six or more years of their long lives (which last upwards of 50 years) without ever touching land.
Is there a bird that never stops flying? ›Do they sleep? How could they possibly eat enough to stay so active for so long? What is their deal?! Swedish scientists have determined that the common swift (Apus apus) can fly for 10 months straight without stopping.
Which bird cannot fly? ›Flightless birds are birds that, through evolution, lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites (ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwis) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g).
How high can planes fly? ›"Most commercial airliners have what we call a 'service ceiling' of up to 45,000 feet," says former pilot Dan Bubb, now a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "The service ceiling is the point where the airplane can no longer develop lift, and gravity begins pulling it down to the ground."
What bird is faster than a jet? ›A scientist has caught a hummingbird hitting a top speed twice that of the fastest fighter jet – at least relatively. The Anna's hummingbird, now believed to be the fastest bird in the world relative to its size, can reach speeds of 50mph, or nearly 385 body lengths per second.
What bird flew over 8000 miles? ›A four-month-old bar-tailed godwit known as B6 set a new world record by completing a non-stop 11-day migration of 8,425 miles from Alaska to Tasmania, Australia. This trip represents the longest documented non-stop flight by any animal!
Do birds have a height limit? ›They're almost always within a few hundred feet of the ground. More is a waste of time and energy. Barred geese routinely migrate over the Himalayas (at around 25,000 feet), but they aren't that far above the ground. The highest recorded altitude for a bird was a Ruppell's griffon vulture 37,000 feet.
Do birds fly at 2000 feet? ›Not all birds travel low where we can see them. Songbirds travel at an altitude as high as 500 to 2,000 feet. Geese and vultures have been known to travel at altitudes of 29,000-37,000 feet high.
What height do eagles fly at? ›High Flyers
Bald eagles can fly 20-40 miles per hour (32-64 km) in normal flight and can dive at speeds of 75-100 mph (120-160 km). They can fly at altitudes of 10,000 feet or more and can soar in the air for hours riding on natural wind currents and thermal updrafts.
No. The highest flying birds are fairly large. The Ruppell's griffon vulture ( Gyps rueppellii) is the highest flying bird in the world.