Largest wingspan...marked at wandering albatross (Diomedea exulas). On September 18, 1965, the crew of the Antarctic research vessel Eltanin, owned by the US Navy, caught a very old male with a wingspan of 3.63 m in the Tasman Sea.

Flight speed
French researchers used a radio beacon to determine flight range and speed albatross (Diomedea). It turned out that in 33 days the bird covered a distance of 15,200 km. The average flight speed was 56.1 km per hour, and the maximum was 81.2 km per hour.

The longest-winged birds

1. Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) - 363 cm
2. Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) - 350
3. Amsterdam albatross (Diomedea amsterdamensis) - 340
4. Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) - 320
5. African marabou (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) - 320
6. Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus) - 320
7. Southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora) - 320
8. Kumai (Gyps himalayensis) - 310
9. Pink pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) - 310
10. Black vulture (Aegypius monachus) - 310
11. Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) - 308
12. Northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) - 305
13. American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) - 300
14. Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis) - 300
15. African long-eared vulture (Torgos tracheliotus) - 300
16. Indian marabou (Leptoptilus dubius) - 300 ???
17. Trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator) - 300
18. California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) - 295
19. Pink-backed pelican (Pelecanus rufescens) - 290
20. Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) - 280
21. Brazilian Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria) - 280
22. Indian crane (Grus antigone) - 280
23. Bustard kori (Ardeotis kori) - 275
24. Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) - 275
25. Mute swan (Cygnus olor) - 275
26. Saddle-billed jabiru (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) - 275

Flight of the white goose

Male albatross can fly around the globe

... covering a distance of 14 thousand miles in just 46 days. On Bird Island in South Georgia, where the grey-headed albatross breeds, several birds were captured with special devices called geolocators attached to their legs. With their help, scientists have established that from the coast of southern Georgia the birds went to the southeast Indian Ocean where tuna fishing takes place. More than half of the individuals then undertook a curious trip around the world- the fastest ones completed it in just 46 days. Scientists were surprised to find that albatrosses could fly so far and stay on the open sea for so long. 12 birds flew around the world, including three albatrosses twice.

Pectoral muscles

Pectoral muscles, which serve to lower the wings, are the largest in flying birds. So, their weight is pigeon (Columba) makes up 20% of the total weight of the bird. Muscles are important in movement both in the air and on land. The muscles of the chest, which raise and lower the wing, reach great development. Birds that have lost the ability to fly have well-developed muscles in their hind limbs (ostriches, chickens, geese).

Upon appearance on the high seas

...sailors use various birds to determine the distance to the shore. So, for example, guillemots (Cepphus) And little auks (Plotus) move away from the coast no further than 15 miles, common tern (Sterna hirundo) – 20 miles brown fulmar (Fulmarus)- 30 miles, and arctic tern can be found 100 miles from the coast. By the way, it is the Arctic tern that makes the longest migrations (of all nomadic animals), moving from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back.

Bird flight altitude

...different. So, mallard duck collided with a plane over Nevada at an altitude of 6,900 m, and in September 1973 African vulture collided with a civilian aircraft over African republic Cote d'Ivoire at an altitude of 12,150 m. November 29, 1973 over Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, vulture (Gyps ruepellii) collided with a passenger plane at an altitude of 11,277 m. The feathers remaining from the bird were enough to American Museum natural history were able to firmly determine the species of bird.

December 9, 1967 around 30 whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) were spotted at an altitude slightly exceeding 8230 m. They were flying from Iceland for the winter at Lough Foyle, on the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. The plane's pilot spotted them over the Outer Hebrides and their altitude was confirmed by radar.

Ability to stay in the air for a long time

Black swift (Apus apus) can remain in the air for 2-4 years. During all this time, he sleeps, drinks, eats and even mates on the fly. A young swift that takes flight probably flies 500,000 km before landing for the first time.

The fastest flyer

Observations confirm that peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) capable of developing maximum speed up to 200 km/h, when it drops like a stone from a great height, defending its territory or hunting birds in the air.

At high altitude, at an aircraft speed of 700 km per hour, a bird the size of a goose on impact hits 3 times harder than a shell from a 30 mm cannon.

Flight speed (km/h)Peregrine falcon flies at a speed of 60 km/h, when catching prey in the “peak” it reaches a speed of 270-300 km/h. The other sprinter is black swift, whose usual speed is 120-180 km/h. Other birds follow them with a significant margin: rock pigeon - 73 km/h, fieldfare - 70 km/h, crossbill - 60 km/h, common kestrel - 60 km/h, common jackdaw - 60 km/h, black thrush - 53 km/h, chaffinch - 50 km/h, the same speed for siskin, teal, gray crane, black-headed gull, and mallard. The gray crow reaches a speed of 43 km/h, white stork- 41 km/h, sparrow - 39 km/h.

The bird that flaps its wings the most

Horned hummingbird (Heliactin cornuta), living in the tropics of South America, flaps its wings at a frequency of 90 beats per second. Hummingbirds flap their wings the fastest. Hummingbirds from the family Trochilidae flapped their wings for 50 minutes in the experiment.

The movement of the wings occurs in a figure eight
When flying, birds do not flap their wings up and down. Their movement is rather forward and backward, resembling a figure eight when viewed from the side.

Capable of flying backwards
Hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.

Longest flight

Common tern (Sterna hirundo) left her nest on a lake in Finland around 15 August 1996 and was captured on 24 January 1997 near lakes in Gippsland, NY. Victoria, Australia. She flew 25,750 km.

Main migration routes
From the European part of Russia, 201 bird species fly to Africa for the winter, 14 to tropical Asia, 1 to North America. From the Asian part of Russia, 26 species go to Australia, 16 to North America, 5 to South America, and 95 to Africa. Arctic tern – the only one who flies to the shores of Antarctica, covering 13-15 thousand km.

Flyways
Many birds have short journeys. Mountain species descend lower until they find enough food; spruce crossbills fly to the nearest area with a good harvest of cones. However, some birds migrate vast distances. The longest flight path Arctic tern: Every year she flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back, covering at least 40,000 km round trip.

Fly underwater

Guillemots are able to “fly” underwater.

Longest migration

... relative to the bird's body weight in the Long Rufous Humingbird Selasphorus rufus. A 10 cm long bird flies 10,000 km from Alaska to Mexico and back.

An internal magnetic compass helps birds navigate.

Different breeds birds use different orientation methods, the researchers added. This could be the Earth’s magnetic field, the Sun, stars, or polarized light. Drozdov placed them in cages with a strong magnetic field directed across the Earth's magnetic field. When the blackbirds were released at night, they flew west instead of north and traveled in the wrong direction for several hundred kilometers. The bird's compass has really gone astray. However, a day later the birds turned north again, recalibrating their magnetic compass. Scientists suggest that the birds were oriented by the sunset: either by the direction towards the Sun, or by the orientation of the polarized light (birds can distinguish it). It turned out that some of the birds can make corrections to the orientation system using alternative “keys”.

Birds can monitor changes in the magnetic field

In the beak tissues of homing pigeons were found tiny particles magnetite, stretched along the nerve fibers. Hence the assumption arose that when crossing magnetic field lines, these particles act on yet undiscovered nerve receptors that transmit these signals to the brain. No one could say exactly how this interaction occurs, but many experts believed that the key to unraveling the miraculous ability of birds to find their way during thousand-kilometer flights had already been found.

They fly following the highways

Pigeons very often fly, not guided by the Sun, as was previously believed, but simply following familiar highways, often making large loops after the highway where they could fly in a straight line. Scientists have found that pigeons use their own navigation system, following familiar roads and turning at the right intersections. Apparently, it is easier for birds to fly this way than to find their way home in any other way.

Pigeons use human routes

Pigeons very often they fly, not guided by the Sun, as was previously believed, but simply following familiar highways, often making large loops after the highway where they could fly in a straight line. They use their own navigation system, following familiar roads and turning at appropriate intersections. It is easier for birds to fly this way than to find their way home in any other way.

Homing pigeon makes transatlantic flight
A homing pigeon named Billy mistakenly made a transatlantic flight from northern France to New York. At first, his owner hoped that the bird would land in England. But somewhere over the English Channel the pigeon lost its course and flew 5.5 thousand km in the wrong direction. On the way, Billy was attacked by a hawk, the traveler was caught in a storm more than once - but everything ended well. According to ornithologists, this is a unique case.

First pigeon mail
Pigeon mail was first used in 44 during the siege of the city of Murino by the Roman commander Decimus Brutus.

Lose the ability to fly

During molting, some birds lose the ability to fly. So, for example, ducks at the same time they can hardly fly for 20-35 days, swans- almost 1.5 months.

How birds prepare for migration
Before migration, the bird eats a lot, accumulating weight and storing energy in the form subcutaneous fat. Gradually she comes into a state of “migratory restlessness.” In spring it is stimulated by elongation daylight hours, which activates the gonads (sex glands), changing the functioning of the pituitary gland. In autumn, the bird reaches the same state as the length of the day decreases, which causes depression of gonadal function. In order for an individual ready to migrate to set off, it needs a special external stimulus, such as a change in the weather. This stimulus is provided by the movement of a warm atmospheric front in the spring and a cold one in the fall.

Flights take place at night

During migration, most birds fly at night, when they are less threatened by winged predators, and devote the day to feeding. Both single-species and mixed flocks, family groups and single individuals travel. Birds usually take their time on the road, spending several days or even a week in a favorable place.

Migration speed

...depends on the species. A flock of waders can reach speeds of up to 176 km/h. The rockfish flies 3,700 km south, making an average of 920 km per day. Flight speed measurements using radar have shown that most small birds fly between 21 and 46 km/h on calm days; larger birds, such as ducks, hawks, falcons, waders and swifts, fly faster. The flight is characterized by a constant, but not maximum speed for the species. Since it takes more energy to overcome a headwind, birds tend to wait it out.

Flight distance record

With simultaneous fasting belongs golden plover (Pluvialis), which crosses the site without landing Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Hawaiian Islands, equal to 3,500 km, with an average speed of 50 km per hour.

The last kilometers of the bird fly faster
In the spring, species migrate north as if on a schedule, reaching certain points at the same time from year to year. Lengthening the non-stop flight segments as they approach the target, they cover the last few hundred kilometers at a much faster speed.

Migration height

As radar measurements show, the altitude at which the flight takes place varies so greatly that it is impossible to talk about any normal or average values. However, night migrants are known to fly higher than those traveling during the day. Among migratory birds recorded over the Cape Cod Peninsula (USA, Massachusetts) and the nearest ocean, 90% stayed at an altitude of less than 1500 m.

They sleep on the go
Storks (Ciconia) during flights they can periodically fall asleep on the fly for 10-15 minutes.

Can spot a hare

Eagles have the best vision of any living creature. They are able to see a hare from a height of 3 km.

Flying above the clouds

Night migrants tend to fly higher in overcast conditions because they tend to fly above the clouds rather than below or through them. However, if the clouds extend to high altitudes at night, birds may fly under them. At the same time, they are attracted to tall, illuminated buildings and lighthouses, which sometimes leads to deadly collisions. According to radar measurements, birds rarely rise above 3000 m. However, some migrants reach amazing heights. In September, birds were recorded flying over the south-eastern part of England at approx. 6300 m. Radar tracking and observation of silhouettes crossing the disk of the moon have shown that nocturnal migrants, as a rule, do not “attach” to the landscape in any way. Birds flying during the day tend to follow landmarks elongated from north to south - mountain ranges, river valleys and long peninsulas.

Sea swallows

Wilson's storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus)- one of the most avid travelers among birds. She nests on the sub-Antarctic islands, but she can be found very far from her native Antarctica - off the coast of India, Australia, South America, off Newfoundland, in the Bay of Biscay and in the Red Sea. Storm petrels fly over the waves quickly, with sharp turns and maneuvers, reminiscent of swifts or swallows. Therefore, in many areas, local residents call these birds sea swallows. The birds spend most of their time in the air, occasionally sitting down on the water, but not diving.

Nomadic birds become sedentary

November 12 folk calendar celebrates the "Titmouse Holiday" - the day when "winter birds" traditionally appear in the Urals: tits, goldfinches, bullfinches, jays, tap dancers and waxwings. However, bullfinches have already been spotted in Berezniki this year. As the Verkhnekamsk News Agency reports, experts note that in recent years, “winter birds” such as bullfinches and tits, which migrate from region to region depending on weather conditions and the availability of food supply, have become sedentary.

The petrel flew 8 million kilometers

A petrel captured on a small island north of Wales may be the oldest bird in the world. An individual of the species Puffinus puffinus was first captured and banded by ornithologists in May 1957, when it was 4 to 6 years old. And then the bird was caught again.

Until recently, the oldest ringed bird was the American albatross, whose age was estimated at 50 years. But the petrel's estimated age (52 years) makes it a new contender for the record.
Experts from the British Trust for Ornithology claim that the bird flew beyond its long life at least 8 million kilometers. Exactly this distance must be covered to go around globe 200 times. During migrations to wintering in South America and back, the bird covered about 800 thousand kilometers, the rest of the distance was frequent flights to the sea for food and back.

They walk better than they fly

The puffin is the second most abundant species in the island ecosystem of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and a relatively large species (650-880 g). Conducting “fishery reconnaissance” and delivering food to the chick at the colony, puffins make flights over several tens of kilometers. They walk better than they fly, and every takeoff for them is an event that requires preparation. The most convenient places for takeoff are rock ledges or coastal cliffs, where paths have been trodden by generations of axes and from where they fall, gaining the speed necessary for flight.

Feathers

How many feathers
At the bird's Robin Erithacus rubecula(its second name robin) almost 3,000 feathers.

Feathers grow unevenly
... from rows of depressions - feather bags, grouped into wide stripes, pterilia, which are separated by bare areas of skin, apteria. The latter are invisible, since they are covered by overlapping feathers from adjacent pterilia. Only a few birds have feathers that grow evenly throughout their body; These are usually flightless species such as penguins.

The longest feathers

... at the pheasant from English. name Phoenix Fowl. The upper tail feathers grow for 6 years and reach a length of 10.6 m. This pheasant has been bred in Japan for decorative purposes since the mid-17th century. Its ancestor is considered to be the bank rooster (Latin name Gallus gallus).

The longest feathers among wild birds

Regarding body length, these are the tail feathers of a male bird of paradise with eng. name Ribbon-tailed Bird of Paradise (Latin name Asptrapia mayeri), which lives in the montane rain forests of New Guinea.

Among wild birds, the longest feathers relative to body length are the tail feathers of the male band-tailed bird of paradise with ang. name Ribbon-tailed Bird of Paradise (Latin name Asptrapia mayeri), which lives in the montane rain forests of New Guinea.

Many or few feathers

The largest number of feathers that grows on one bird is 25,216 feathers of the tundra swan (English name Tundra Swan) Cygnus columbianus. Interestingly, 80 percent of the feathers grew on the swan's head.

The smallest number of feathers is 940 feathers of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris. However, when you read the number of feathers relative to body weight, this hummingbird leaves most birds behind. Its length is only 9 cm.

Feathers with increased fluffiness

Some species, such as grouse and pheasants, have a small side feather of a similar structure extending from the lower part of their shaft. It is very fluffy and improves thermal insulation.

Color does not come from nature, but from nutrition

In fact, Pheniconaias flamingos are not naturally pink. They get their color from their food - small green algae that turn pink when digested.

The color pattern helps to find a sexual partner during the breeding season.

Typically, brighter and more contrasting colors are characteristic of males, who use them during mating displays.

The secret of the peacock's beauty
The beauty of feathers peacock Pavo cristatus provides a reflective paint effect. Each peacock feather has a central stalk with many teeth on each side. Each prong, in turn, consists of layers of a two-dimensional crystalline structure made from melanin rods bound together by the protein keratin. The number of twigs and the spacing between them control the reflection of light, which produces different colors. For peacocks, these are green, golden yellow, brown and bright blue.

Down and down feathers

protect the body of chicks, and improves thermal insulation in adult birds. Thread-like feathers perceive vibrations. It is believed that these are sensors of external forces that are involved in stimulating the muscles that control large feathers. The bristles are very similar to thread-like feathers, but are stiffer. They stick out in many birds near the corners of the mouth and probably serve for touch, like the whiskers of mammals.

Powder fluff,

...located in special zones - powdered areas - under the main plumage of herons and bitterns, or scattered throughout the body of pigeons, parrots and many other species. These feathers grow continuously and crumble into fine powder at the top. It has water-repellent properties and, probably, together with the secretion of the coccygeal gland, protects the contour feathers from wetting.
The edges of the owls' flight feathers are fluffed, making the flight almost silent and allowing them to approach prey unnoticed.

Juvenile plumage

In most birds, juvenile plumage is replaced directly by adult plumage, but some species have two or three more intermediate appearance options. For example, only at the age of seven does a bald eagle acquire a typical adult appearance with a pure white head and tail.

Birds that fly the highest

Looking at birds soaring under the clouds, people are surprised at how high they manage to rise above the ground. Most birds rise to a height of 1000-1500 meters every day. However, what we can see is far from the limit. Many birds, especially during migration, quite often rise to a height several times higher than usual, leaving clouds far below. Let's get acquainted with some typical representatives of “extraordinary” flights.

White stork

White stork- a bird with a long neck, a thin bright beak and long legs. The stork's wingspan is 150-200 cm. During annual flights to wintering grounds, the birds cover long distances, rising to a height of 2-3 thousand meters.

Andean condor

Andean condor lives in the mountains of South America. It does not make annual migrations, like some other birds, but the condor already flies many kilometers a day over the mountains in search of food, rising to a height of 3000-5000 meters.

Black swift

Black swifts– collected a lot of “titles”. They are the record holders among birds for the longest stay in the air (young swifts, having taken off, land only after 2-3 years), the second fastest flight (more than 120 km/h) and one of the highest flying birds in the world. Black swifts can circle even in their sleep at an altitude of about 3 thousand meters above the ground.

Golden eagle

Golden eagle - large predator. Its wingspan can reach 2 meters. He has very acute vision, thanks to which golden eagles can look out for prey from great heights. The flight altitude characteristic of these birds from the hawk family is 4500 m.

Plover

Plovers– dim, but very interesting birds. They are able to fly so low and so high that it cannot but surprise: plovers can fly over the water, almost touching the water with their wings, and can rise to a height of more than 6000 meters above the ground.

Mallard

Mallard- the most common and recognizable wild duck. But few people know that these birds can fly very high, especially during annual migrations. There is a known case when a mallard collided with a plane flying at that moment at an altitude of 6900 m.

Gray goose

Gray geese inhabit lakes, swamps, ponds and other bodies of water. They are careful and strong birds, even a wounded goose can seriously injure its offender with a blow from its wing. During seasonal migrations, gray geese gather in flocks of two to three to one hundred individuals and fly in a wedge, in a line, or scattered. During such flights, gray geese rise to a height of about 8000 m.

Whooper swans

Group whooper swans was spotted in December 1967 over Ireland at an altitude of 8230 m. The altitude of their flight was recorded by radar. This was the first, but not the only, confirmation of the ability of these birds to fly during seasonal migrations at altitudes above 8000 m.

mountain goose

Some of the highest flying birds are mountain geese. Their usual height (1000-5000 m) is often inaccessible to many other bird species. For the winter, geese go to Central Asia, overcoming huge mountain ranges along the way. There are cases when geese were recorded at an altitude of 10175 m.

African vulture from the genus of vultures

The highest in terms of flight altitude - vultures. Among them African vulture rises above all. Scientists have calculated that it is these birds that most often collide with airplanes. The highest altitudes at which African vultures have been recorded are 11,277 m and 12,150 m.

These are the highest flying birds. Interestingly, at an altitude of more than 6000 m, birds face a lack of oxygen, harsh sun and cold winds. How they manage to survive such extreme conditions is a question that has not yet been answered by scientists.

The smallest bird.

Male pygmy bumblebee hummingbirds (Mellisuga helenae) living in Cuba have a mass of 1.6 g and a length of 5.7 cm (half the length is the beak and tail).

The smallest bird of prey.

The black-footed shrike (Microhierax fringillarius) in southeast Asia and the white-breasted, or Bornean, shrike (M. latifrons), living in the north-west of the island. Borneo, have an average size of 14-15 cm, including a five-centimeter tail. Their weight is approximately 35 g.

The highest flying birds.

The largest cranes (family Gruidae) can be almost 2 m tall.

The heaviest flying birds.

The Kori Bustard (Ardeolis kori) of North-East and Southern Africa and the Great Bustard (Otis tarda) of Europe and Asia weigh approximately 18-19 kg. A 21kg male great bustard was reported shot in northeastern China. He was so heavy that he could not fly.

The heaviest vultures.

Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) are the heaviest of the vultures. Males weigh 9-12 kg and have a wingspan of at least 3 m.
A male California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) on display at the California Academy of Sciences was reported to weigh 14.1 kg. Usually, as a rule, it does not exceed 10.4 kg.

Large flocks.

Flamingos with their long necks and with legs they have a height of 0.9-1.5 m. These are the largest birds that gather in flocks. Of the four species, the small flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), which lives in East and Southern Africa, forms the largest flocks - several million birds. They are most often seen in the Great Lakes of East Africa.

The longest feathers.

The Phoenix bird, or Yokohama fowl (a breed of red bush fowl Gallus gallus), is bred in Japan for its bright plumage. In 1972, a rooster with tail feathers measuring 10.6 m was reported.

The longest beak.

The beak of the Australian pelican (Pelicanus conspicillatus) is 34-47 cm long.
The longest beak, in relation to the length of the body, is that of the sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), which lives in the Andes. Its beak (10.2 cm) is longer than the bird’s body (excluding the tail).

The largest bird.

The largest and strongest living flightless bird is the North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus). Males can be up to 2.75 m tall and weigh 156.5 kg. The immune system of an adult bird is the most effective among all other animals. South Africa was the first country to assess the commercial value of ostrich products. The bird is valued not only for its large and soft feathers and good meat, but also for its skins, from which the world's strongest leather is made. Ostrich farms are thought to have originated in the Karoo in the Eastern Cape around 1863. By 1910 there were over 20,000 domesticated ostriches in the country, and by 1913 ostrich feathers were South Africa's leading export. Demand for feathers later began to decline, but interest in ostriches was revived in the 1920s when farmers began making biltong (strips of dried ostrich meat). There are now ostrich farms in 50 countries; There are especially many of them in South Africa, Algeria, Australia, France and the USA. Thanks to this, ostriches are not in danger of extinction: currently there are approximately 1.75 million of them worldwide. The birds can be trained, they can be used for riding and various shows.

The most big eyes.

The ostrich has the largest eyes of all land animals. The diameter of its eyes can reach 5 cm.

The most flying bird.

Juvenile sooty terns (Sterna fuscata) leave their nesting grounds and remain in the air for 3-10 years, only occasionally descending onto the water. Birds return to land only as adults to breed.

Longest flight.

The common tern (Sterna hirundo), ringed in June 1996 in Finland, was recaptured off the island. Rotama (Victoria, Australia) in January 1997. She flew 200 km per day.

Slowest flight.

The American woodcock (Scolopax minor) and the Eurasian woodcock (S. rusticola) can fly at a speed of 8 km/h during mating games without breaking into a dive.

The rarest movements of the wings.

The rarest wing beats during real flight in a straight line are one beat per second. Several species of vultures, inhabitants of the New World (family Cathartidae), are capable of this.

Largest wingspan.

Living in South America 6-8 million years ago, the teratoron (Argentavis magnificens) is estimated to have had a wingspan of 7.6 m.

The fastest flight of a bird.

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is the fastest living creature. It reaches speeds of at least 200 km/h and possibly up to 270 km/h, darting from great heights to mark its territory or catch prey in the air.

The fastest wing movements.

The horned hummingbird (Heliactin cornuta), a hummingbird from South America, beats its wings 90 times per minute.

The fastest land bird.

Despite its large size, the ostrich can run at speeds of up to 72 km/h if necessary.

Birds that fly the highest.

Ruppel's vulture (Gyps ruéppellii) collided with a passenger plane over the city of Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) at an altitude of 11,300 m in November 1973. One of the plane's engines was damaged, but the plane landed safely. Birds of this species are rarely observed at altitudes above 6,000 m. In 1967, 30 whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) were spotted by an airplane pilot at an altitude of just over 8230 m above the Hebrides (Great Britain). They flew from Iceland to Lake Foyle on the border of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. confirmed by the tracking station workers.

Wingspan.

Among the birds living on Earth, the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) has the largest wingspan. It can hover in the air above the surface of the water without using its wings for several hours at a time. The largest specimen was a very old male with a wingspan of 3.63 m. He was caught in Southern Hemisphere in the Tasman Sea in September 1965

Longest step.

An ostrich's stride can exceed 7 m when the bird runs quickly.

The highest acceleration endured by a living being.

The beak of a red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), chiseling the bark of a tree, moves at a speed of 20.9 km/h, causing the bird's brain to experience a large negative acceleration (g = 10) when its head is thrown back. Other species of woodpeckers may experience even greater gravitational stress.

Highest food consumption.

Each day, hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) require an amount of food (mainly nectar and tiny insects) equal to at least half their body weight. With the possible exception of shrews, hummingbirds have the most high level metabolism.

The strangest diet.

An ostrich at London Zoo was found to have swallowed an alarm clock, a film cassette, a handkerchief, a 91cm rope, a bicycle nipple, three gloves, a comb, a pencil, a piece of gold chain, a cufflink, a Belgian franc, four halfpence and two farthings. .

Longest post ever.

A male emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) lives for several months without food on the ice expanses of Antarctica: he makes the transition from the sea to the nesting sites, cares for the female, warms the egg for 62-67 days, waits for the female to return and returns back to the open sea, avoiding without food up to 134 days.

The biggest catch.

It is reliably known that the largest animal killed and carried away by a bird was a 7-kilogram howler monkey, which was killed by a harpy (Harpia harpyja) in national park Manu (Peru) in 1990. The harpy is considered the most powerful bird of prey, although its mass is only 9 kg.

The sharpest vision.

It is believed that under ideal conditions, the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) can see a pigeon at a distance of more than 8 km.

The largest nests.

The "incubators" built by weed chickens (Leipoa ocellata) from Australia reach 4.75 m in height and 10.6 m in width. The nest weighs approximately 300 tons. The nest, 2.9 m wide and 6 m deep, was built by a pair of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and possibly their successors near St. Petersburg (Florida, USA). When examined in 1963, the weight of the nest was estimated at more than 2 tons.

The smallest nests.

Verbena hummingbird (Mellisuga minima) builds a nest half the size of a shell walnut. The deeper, narrower nest of the bee-shaped hummingbird (M. helenae) is the size of a thimble.

The largest egg.

The extinct giant bird Aepyornis maximus laid eggs 33 cm long, which contained 8.5 liters of liquid. This is equal to the volume of seven ostrich eggs and more than 12,000 hummingbird eggs. An ostrich egg is 15-20 cm in length, 10-15 cm in diameter and weighs 1.0-1.78 kg. In volume it is equal to 24 chicken eggs. The shell is 1.5 mm thick, but it can support the weight of an adult. The largest egg was laid in 1988 by a hybrid of a northern and southern ostrich on the farm of Kibbutz Haon (Israel). Its weight was 2.3 kg.

The smallest egg.

The two smallest eggs were observed in the verbena hummingbird: they were less than 1 cm long. One weighed 0.365 g, the second - 0.375 g.

The most numerous bird.

The number of adult African red-billed weavers (Quelea quelea) is estimated at 1.5 billion. The annual destruction of at least 200 million birds has no effect on their numbers.

The most powerful bird.

The kea (Nestor notabilis) of New Zealand is the only bird that forms a community in which the "tall ostrich" birds force others to work for them.

The most fragrant bird.

The South American hoazin (Opisthocomus hoazin) smells like cow dung. Colombians call it pava hedionda (“stinking pheasant”). The smell is thought to be related to the bird's diet of green foliage and its special digestive system, where fermentation of food occurs in the foregut.

By logging into Google and entering “Novosibirsk”, you can see one of the suggested options for the query “Novosibirsk from a bird’s eye view”. But what does this mean? Let's try to figure out what birds we are talking about.

Tits, sparrows and other small city dwellers

These are frequently encountered city dwellers; they regularly hover under our feet in search of food, visit our feeders with pleasure, and eat lilacs, rowan trees and other shrubs within urban plantings. The city has already become a home for them; it is not only a source of food, but also a source of nesting. The attics of houses are regularly inhabited by pigeons; they feel warm and happy there. Nests are often built not from natural materials, but from small debris, threads, polyethylene, construction waste, insulated with cotton wool and glass wool sticking out of insulated windows or broken house siding. These birds, as well as other guests (wagtails, bullfinches, waxwings, nuthatches, etc.), which can be found in the urban environment, do not live at low altitudes - rising up to 10-16 floors (up to 50 meters). There is simply no point for them to fly higher, there is no food or nests there.

Tits at the feeder

Pigeons, crows, swallows and kites

Also frequent inhabitants of cities. If we always see pigeons under our feet, then crows are already mostly in the trees, and kites are only in the skies. Larger birds are able to fly longer distances, and to make it easier for them to fly, they soar higher. Here already we're talking about about a height of 70-100 meters and above. For comparison, the tallest building in Novosibirsk - Kommunisticheskaya 50 (Batman) has a height of 87.9 meters.

Kite soaring in the sky

The highest flying birds

There are birds that fly even higher! In everyday life, they rise to heights of 1000-1500 meters, and even higher for long flights. They look completely different - they are large, they have a large wingspan, all this allows them to accumulate a lot of energy, fly far, high and for a long time.

• The white stork rises to a height of 2-3 thousand meters.
• Black swifts are record holders among birds for the longest stay in the air (young swifts, having taken off, land only after 2-3 years), the second fastest flight (more than 120 km/h) and one of the highest flying birds in the world (they can circle even in sleep at an altitude of about 3 thousand meters above the ground).
• The golden eagle is a bird of prey that, circling at an altitude of 4500 meters, can spot prey with its keen vision and catch it.
• Mallards are ducks known to many and encountered even within the city. During flights they fly very high. There is a known case when a mallard collided with a plane at an altitude of 6900 meters.
• Gray geese fly to a height of 8000 meters.
• The most record holders are vultures, the maximum height at which they were recorded was 12,150 meters, colliding with an airplane.

Vulture

Civil aircraft fly at an altitude of 9-11 thousand km. During the flight, everyone who flew looked or at least looked out the window, it was very difficult to see anything below. The city is seen beautiful only during takeoff and landing, when the plane gradually gains altitude or decreases it.
So what birds do people think of when they search Google? What height are they talking about? :)

In reviewing flight patterns, it has already been pointed out that flights over high mountain ranges are not as rare as might be expected from the variations in migration of numerous species on the borders of high elevations. By ringing and observations, it was possible in many cases to accurately prove the presence of regular, although not very intense, flight over the Alps, the Caucasus, and even over the powerful mountain ranges of the Himalayas. It should be especially emphasized that birds do not always prefer valleys and passes, but also fly over mountain ranges (for example, in the Tien Shan), at an altitude of 6000 m. In comparison with them, the heights overcome in the Alps seem insignificant (the highest altitude is 9500 m, the highest ever climbed by birds has been reached by a flock of geese over Everest. The height was accurately determined; a flock of geese was photographed from an airplane (Garrison, 1931).

Geir was the first to point out the need to distinguish between relative and absolute flight heights. Therefore, it is very important from what point the observer registers it. In the future, we will mostly talk about relative height, i.e., the distance from the surface of the earth, regardless of whether it is the seashore, hilly or mountainous terrain. In any case, absolute altitude in itself does not seem to affect the flight altitude of birds significant influence. The same species of birds fly at the same altitude on the plain as in the mountains, unless wind and weather conditions differ significantly.

For a long time it was believed that bird flights take place mainly at high altitudes and therefore are little accessible to the human eye. It was assumed that at a great distance from the surface of the earth, flight was facilitated by air currents, as well as better orientation. According to Gaetke's data for Heligoland, the passage usually takes place at an altitude of approximately 2000 m, and in some species - even 3000 m and higher (for rooks at an altitude of approximately 4500 m!). Against these views at the beginning of the 20th century. Lucanus spoke. He conducted experiments on the visibility limits of various birds for humans, raising stuffed animals with outstretched wings on balloons. It turned out that at an altitude of 800 m the rooks looked like dots, and at an altitude of 1000 m they disappeared. For sparrowhawks, these heights were 640 and 850, respectively. m, and such large birds as the buzzard and bearded vulture, at an altitude of 1500-2000 m were barely noticeable.

Estimating the flight altitude is usually erroneous and produces exaggerated results, since there are no aids for comparison similar to those we have on the ground. The main source of errors lies in the different transparency of the air under cloudless skies, light clouds and continuous clouds. Currently, accurate data on the flight altitude of birds can be obtained using sophisticated instruments created by technology for military purposes. In cases where it is necessary to prove the presence of migratory birds at high altitudes, observations of pilots and balloonists may be useful. Such observations were collected by Weigold and Lucanus. In recent years, they have been supplemented by a number of observations carried out during glider flights, and some other data (still not published, but already well-known “secrets”). With the help of modern aviation measuring instruments during the Second World War, it was often possible to establish the flights of birds at high altitudes, for example, the wood pigeon at an altitude of 2500 m. To summarize, it can be stated, however, that bird flights at altitudes of more than 1000 m relatively rare. Normally, flights take place at an altitude of several hundred meters, and often, especially in small birds, below 100 m. When the weather is favorable and there is good visibility and the wind is not too strong, birds fly much higher than in low clouds, rain, fog or a stronger headwind. The stronger the wind, the lower the birds fly, using every hill, forest edges and river valleys, where the wind force is somewhat weaker. Over the sea, birds also fly mostly above the surface of the water. If possible, they avoid fog and flying in the clouds. It is rare to see migrating birds above a continuous layer of clouds, but sometimes large birds, such as geese and cranes, fly above thick clouds. It is necessary, however, to mention a recent report by Lippens (1943), which off the coast of Belgium above two layers of clouds at an altitude of 150 and 500 m, where was clear sky, observed the lively migration of plovers, herons, cormorants, geese, starlings, crows, blackbirds and finches. But in general, birds, of course, strive not to lose sight of the ground when flying.

Assumptions that height makes it easier for birds to orient themselves have not been confirmed. The air is rarely so clear that birds at an altitude of more than 1000 m, could take advantage of the expanded field of view; their visual capabilities are far from limitless. In this area, our knowledge is still insufficient, and one can only assume that, due to the structural features of their eyes and, in particular, the retina, fogs interfere less with the vision of birds than with human vision. In this regard, the comparative data of Trib (1939) are significant, who drew attention to the yellow and red oily balls included in the retina of birds, the function of which is still not well understood. Trib cited improved long-range visibility at sunset, as well as good visibility of red signal lights in foggy weather. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that long-wavelength yellow and red rays penetrate the foggy atmosphere better than short-wavelength green, blue and violet rays. In this case, it makes no difference whether the area is viewed in a reddish light or in such a way that the yellow and red rays are especially effective. This is what a photographer does, for example, who, when photographing a landscape with a foggy distance, exposes a light-sensitive plate through an orange filter. If you exclude all but the longest rays in the infrared part of the spectrum, you can photograph even at a distance of hundreds of kilometers. Red-yellow balls in the eyes of birds have a similar effect. Thus, migratory birds can see the coast of Africa even in foggy weather from Sicily. However, it seems that birds navigate mainly by specific features of the landscape, rather than by the general contours of the earth's surface. If it were otherwise, then some islands would not play the role of guide lines and guide points, massive flyways would disappear, and numerous bypass routes would be shortened. However, all of these conditions exist and influence bird migration, providing evidence that migration takes place, on average, at low altitude. Birds often only need to fly a little higher to find landmarks that would seem to make following guide lines unnecessary. Duncker (1905) compiled a summary of the visibility range (regardless of atmospheric conditions) from various heights. Based on formula r =ROOT2Rk = 113ROOTh the following figures were obtained.