Birds are the most powerful flying animals on earth. According to the classification system of BirdLife International, there are 11,162 species. Do you know which birds are the fastest?
This article brings you the top ten fastest flying birds on earth. They not only fly in the blue sky at amazing speeds, but also show unique flying skills and adaptability. From the rapid dive of falcons to the flexible shuttle of swallows, let's explore the extreme beauty of flying in nature.
Frigatebird is a general term for five large seabirds in the family Frigatebird of the order Pelecaniformes. It has very slender wings and a long and deep forked tail, with a wingspan of about 2.3 meters. Because of its well-developed pectoral muscles and excellent flying ability, the frigatebird is known as the "flying champion". It flies like lightning in the air, and its dive speed when hunting can reach 418 kilometers per hour, making it the fastest bird on earth.
In addition, the frigatebird can not only fly to an altitude of about 1,200 meters and perform flexible flips, but also can fly continuously for more than 1,600 kilometers, and the longest can reach about 4,000 kilometers.
The Peregrine Falcon is a medium-sized bird of prey. It is the national bird of the United Arab Emirates and Angola. It is famous for its extremely fast flying speed. Although its usual flying speed is about 50 to 100 kilometers per hour, its diving speed can exceed 300 kilometers, making it one of the fastest diving birds.
The hunting skills of the Peregrine Falcon are not innate. It will teach its young birds how to hunt when hunting, which is very rare in nature. When completing a dive, the pressure on the Peregrine Falcon can reach 25 times the gravity, which is the highest pressure value known among large animals.
Sharp-tailed Swift is the fastest small bird in the world, usually flying at a speed of 170 km/h, and can soar to 353.5 km/h. Their scissor-shaped tail feathers help reduce air resistance, their heads are rounded, like ping-pong balls, their bodies are slender, and they fly as fast as arrows.
Every year, Sharp-tailed Swifts only stay on the ground for about two months during the breeding season, and then leave Europe to migrate to Africa for the winter. During this ten-month migration and hibernation period, they almost never land.
Golden Eagle is a well-known bird of prey, mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere, famous for its unique appearance and flexible flight. They can reach a length of 1 meter, a wingspan of 2.3 meters, and a weight of 7 kilograms.
Golden eagles have excellent vision and can accurately capture prey from high altitudes. After discovering prey, they will dive down at an amazing speed, with a maximum speed of 322 kilometers per hour. At the last moment, the golden eagle will quickly stop flapping its wings, then tightly grasp the prey's head, and use its sharp claws to directly pierce the prey's skull, quickly ending its life.
The gyrfalcon is known as the king of the northern sky, but it is very sensitive to high temperatures and usually flies fast and straight at low altitudes. When it finds prey, it will quickly fold its wings and dive down quickly, like a flying dart, rushing directly towards the prey. Its speed when diving can reach 209 kilometers per hour.
The gyrfalcon gets its name because of its extremely fast flight speed when hunting, which is like a thrown spear.
The white-throated needle-tailed swift is a bird belonging to the genus Apodidae. It often flies in groups over the forest, especially in open forest valleys. Sometimes it appears alone or in pairs. They fly very fast, sometimes rushing high into the sky, sometimes diving rapidly, accompanied by a "whoosh" sound. The flying speed can reach 169 kilometers per hour, making it one of the fastest species among birds.
The white-throated needle-tailed swift mainly feeds on flying insects such as Diptera, ants and Coleoptera. It usually hunts in the air, and sometimes flies low over the ground or water to hunt.
The Elaphe is small in size and belongs to a small raptor. It is smaller than the hunting falcon and the peregrine falcon. It is one of the more common raptors in China and usually moves alone or in pairs. The Elaphe flies quickly and flexibly, like lightning. After a short flap of wings, it will glide and stay in the air for a short time.
They fly at a speed of about 161 kilometers per hour. They mainly prey on small birds and large pests, and sometimes even catch bats. They can catch fast-flying swallows and swifts.
The Red-breasted Merganser is a medium-sized fish-eating duck that is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, India and China, and migrates to Southeast Asia in winter. Its flying speed can reach up to 130 kilometers per hour, and it is particularly agile when catching fish, crabs and shrimp.
Although the Red-breasted Merganser flies fast and in a straight line, it must flap its wings quickly on the water surface when taking off, which is a bit clumsy. They mainly feed on small fish, and also eat other aquatic organisms such as aquatic insects, insect larvae, crustaceans and mollusks.
The Grey-headed Albatross is a bird belonging to the genus Lesser Albatross, about 63 cm tall, with a wingspan of up to 2.2 meters, showing its unique orange-yellow beak and gray head. This large seabird is widely distributed in the waters of the Southern Hemisphere.
The Grey-headed Albatross can fly up to 127 kilometers per hour, and its average speed when foraging is 109.43 kilometers. They can glide for a long time on the sea surface, making full use of aerodynamic principles, sometimes even for hours without flapping their wings.
The Australian Spotted Duck is a bit unique, a bird between ducks and geese, but its relationship is different from other ducks and geese. This bird is unique to Australia, with a wingspan of up to 34 cm and a maximum speed of 118 kilometers when flying.
Due to frequent environmental changes in Australia's inland waters, many waters have disappeared due to drought, especially after humans developed agriculture and animal husbandry, this phenomenon has become more serious, causing the survival of the Australian Spotted Duck to be greatly affected.
According to the comprehensive compilation of Internet websites, the above is the ranking of the top ten fastest flying birds on the earth. This list is obtained by searching the search platform to query the maximum flight speed of each bird, and the ranking is for reference and entertainment only. If you have different opinions, please make suggestions or corrections in the comment area.
animal tags： birds
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