Top fastest birds in the world | Amazing Facts

This world is full of amazing facts. Nature mother will always surprise you even though we are ahead in technological advancement compared to old times. What are the top fastest birds in the world? It depends on various factors such as air speed and horizontal speed. In addition to factors, we will discuss list of top 10 fastest birds in the world in 2022.

What are the top fastest birds in the world?

• Peregrine falcon
• Golden eagle
• Saker falcon
• Gyrfalcon
• Common swift
• White-throated needletail
• Eurasian hobby
• Frigatebird
• Spur-winged goose
• Canvasback

1. Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine falcon belongs to falconidae family. Although, All birds in falconidae family have high speed dive and pointed long wings. Peregrine falcon speed is 242 mph (Almost equivalent to speed of Koenigsegg Gemera car). Above all, mother nature always wins. The maximum horizontal speed of peregrine falcon is 68 mph. This high horizontal speed is because of its body wing ratio.

2. Golden Eagle

Golden eagle belongs to the family of Hawks (Accipitridae). The maximum airspeed of golden eagle is 200 mph with a horizontal maximum speed of 80mph. Hence, making itself as second fastest bird in the world. Golden eagle speed is also referred in literature because of its amazing hunting ability. Its one of the most extensive studied specie.

3. Saker falcon

Saker falcon is 3rd fastest bird in the world. Its airspeed can reach up to 200 mph. Furthermore, it has pointed long wings which helps it in the attaining this speed in the air. The horizontal speed of saker falcon is more than golden eagle and peregrine falcon. The average wingspan of saker falcon is 110 cm. Sake falcon is among fastest birds in the world.

4. Gyrfalcon

Gyrfalcon ranked 4th on top 10 fastest birds in the world. It also belongs to family of Hawks. However, Gyrfalcon is regarded as the largest bird in Falconidae family. The air speed of Gyrfalcon can range from 116 to 130 mph. Its horizontal speed is almost equal to saker falcon although they belong different families.

5. Common swift

Common swift is among the fastest birds in world. It ranks 5th in the list of top ten fastest birds in the world in mph. Common swift is the only bird with confirmed flight speed of 69 mph. The airspeed of common swift is 105 mph. Because of its wingspan (40 cm) and speed, Its also termed as bird without feet. Moreover, It is the first bird which makes it to top 10 fastest birds from Apodidae family.

6. White-throated needletail

White-throated needletail is second bird from Apodidae family in the top fastest birds in the world. However, They spend most of their life time in the air. According to Wikipedia, maximum airspeed and horizontal airspeed is equal for white-throated needletail. It travels at 105 mph making it 6th on the list of top 10 fastest birds.

7. Eurasian hobby

Eurasian hobby is a small and slim falcon. It can outfly common swift in speed sometimes. Eurasian hobby airspeed is 100mph. It belongs to falcon family therefore, it also have aggressive approach towards it pray. It can pray faster bird than themselves.

8. Frigatebird

Frigatebirds are found across all tropical regions. Moreover, Frigatebird has largest wing area to body weight ratio. The airspeed of frigatebird is 95 mph which puts it on 8th position among top 10 fastest birds in the world. Its gliding speed is low compared to other other fastest birds in the world.

9. Spur-winged goose

Spur-winged goose travels at 88 mph found in wet lands of Africa. They have high speed wings. They are 9th most fastest bird. Male goose are much larger in weight compared to female. It is the first Anatidae bird in this list because of its wings.

10. Canvasback

Canvasback made it to the top 10 fastest birds in the world because of its 88 mph air speed. Furthermore, this bird belongs to the family of diving ducks. They are found in north America. There high speed is because of their shape head.

Subsequently, we also have some honoree mention in addition to the top 10 fastest birds in the world. For instance, Common Eider is also among fastest birds on the planet. Furthermore, Eurasian teal is also considered fastest bird. However, It travels at 60 mph. Above all, the last in the list of mentions is Anna’s hummingbird. Its smallest in the list but it posses high velocity.

Despite the science advancement in the field of birds, speed related parameters still needs a lot of research. For example, Measuring with speed guns cannot be done with birds. Furthermore, any traditional method of speed check cannot be applied on them. At last I would like to conclude that there is still lot to research about this nature, specially birds.

To dig out more about other top 10 lists. Please follow the link here.