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.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

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. 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

Common name	Image	Species	Family	Average horizontal speed	Maximum horizontal speed	Average diving speed	Maximum airspeed	Flight
Peregrine falcon		Falco peregrinus	Falconidae	65–90 km/h 40-56 mph	105–115 km/h 65-71 mph		400 km/h 242 mph	High speed dive - pointed long wings
Golden eagle	100px	Aquila chrysaetos	Accipitridae	45–51 km/h 28-32 mph	129 km/h 80 mph	241 km/h 150 mph	320 km/h 200 mph
Grey-headed albatross	100px	Thalassarche Chrysostoma	Diomedeidae		127 km/h 78.9 mph			2.2m (7'2") wingspan allows for high power use from wind.
Gyrfalcon	100px	Falco rusticolus	Falconidae	80-110 km/h 50-68 mph	145 km/h 90 mph	187–209 km/h 116-130 mph	209 km/h 130 mph	High speed dive - pointed long wings
White-throated needletail	100px	Hirundapus caudacutus	Apodidae		169 km/h 105 mph			High speed wings
Swift		Apus apus	Apodidae					High speed wings
Eurasian hobby	100px	Falco subbuteo	Falconidae					Can sometimes outfly the swift
Frigatebird		Fregata	Fregatidae					Slow gliding/soaring high aspect ratio
Spur-winged goose		Plectropterus	Anatidae					High speed wings
Red-breasted merganser	100px	Mergus serrator	Anatidae					High aspect ratio wings
Canvasback	100px	Aythya valisineria	Anatidae					High speed wings
Eider	100px	Somateria mollissima	Anatidae					High speed wings
Teal		Anas crecca	Anatidae					High aspect ratio wings

External links

• Fastest Birds Life123
• The world's fastest birds The Travel Almanac
• What Are The Fastest Flying Birds? Blur it

• Hobby, Falco subbuteo
• Animal Corner ; Sea Birds Frigate Bird Galapagos Sea Birds - The Great Frigate Bird and the Magnificent Frigate Bird
• Free find Spur-Winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis - Kenya Birds
• The cornell lab of Ornithology - Cornell University Bird Guide - Red-breasted Merganser
• Ducks Unlimited - Wet-lands conversation Canvasback
• Family XXXIX. ANATINAE. DUCKS. Family THE EIDER DUCK. [Common Eider.] Genus FULIGULA MOLLISSIMA, Linn. [Somateria mollissima.]