The fastest animal on Earth that flies long distances

The fastest long-distance flying animal on Earth is the sharp-tailed swift. The sharp-tailed swift (swift) is the champion of long-distance flight. Its normal flight speed is 170 kilometers/hour; its fastest speed can reach 352.5 kilometers/hour, or 100 meters/second. The sharp-tailed swift has a pair of scissor tails. This can help it avoid the resistance brought by the air. Its head is round, like a ping pong ball. It has a long body and flies as fast as an arrow in the air.

The sharp-tailed swift is a small climbing bird, and its most distinctive feature is that all four toes face forward. There are many types of swifts, and there are 7 species in China. Every March, they trek from Africa or Southeast Asia. The most common one is the Beijing swift, which often gathers in large flocks to fly high in the sky to catch insects, and nests in the attics of some ancient buildings with large Chinese-style roofs, so it is also known as the building swallow.

Swifts can fly 800 kilometers in a day. When a swift feeds, it flies back and forth tirelessly, opening its big mouth to catch insects. It also drinks, bathes, and sometimes pairs in mid-flight.

There are two reports about its speed. In 1942, the former Soviet Union reported a speed of 170.98 kilometers per hour; and in 1934, during a 3.22-kilometer flight in the Kacha Mountains in northeastern India, a stopwatch was used to measure the speed of this sharp-tailed swift as high as 170.98 kilometers per hour. 276.47～353.23 kilometers.

animal tags： Swift