The flight of birds is 40-60 kilometers per hour. Which bird flies the fastest? It is not so easy to answer this question - after all, it is difficult to measure the time that the birds spend on overcoming a given path, and the data of scientists differ from each other. However, all sources agree that no other bird, like an animal, can overtake a peregrine falcon. During hunting and defense, this predator gains speed exceeding 300 km / h!

Characteristic signs

Peregrine Falcon - bird There are 18 species that differ from each other in color and habitat. The predator is comparable in size to a crow, its length is on average 50 cm.Wingspan more than a meter... A powerful chest with pronounced muscles, strong fingers with rounded thick claws, a short curved beak. The ends of the long tail and wings are sharp, which allows the bird to deftly maneuver. The back, wings and head of the bird are dark in color, the belly is light. A characteristic external difference is considered to be dark stripes at the beak, reminiscent of a mustache.

Females reach 1.5 kg in weight and are much larger than representatives of the strong half. The weight of males does not exceed 800 g. Differences in color are not observed in heterosexual representatives of this species. The peregrine falcon can hardly be called a songbird. Usually, the harsh and loud voice of a predator can be heard during mating season or during severe anxiety.

How fast does it fly Normal speed peregrine falcon is limited to an average of 130 km / h. When attacking prey or defending its territory, the predator dives at a speed of about 330 km / h.

Habitat

The falcon is undemanding to climatic conditions, therefore, the area of ​​its distribution is limited only by Antarctica. It is found both in hot tropics and in cold regions. In the wild, the peregrine falcon makes nests in places inaccessible to humans. He especially loves rocky and mountainous areas.

In forest thickets, the predator prefers to settle in tree hollows or high above the ground, evicting previous inhabitants from their homes. An important condition Peregrine Falcon's survival is the presence of a body of water near the nest. Some individuals prefer urban conditions. So, in the USA, peregrine falcons settle on the roofs of cathedrals and high-rise buildings.

Today in Russia there are about 5 thousand individuals, which is relatively less than a few decades ago. Therefore, the bird in the Red Book is under the protection of the state.

Lifestyle

Having answered the question which bird flies the fastest, ornithologists began to study the lifestyle of the record holders, thanks to which a curious man in the street can learn a lot interesting facts about the life of peregrine falcons. It turns out that these predators are real conservatives!

Falcons lead Their territories are inherited and belong to the same family for several generations. It is curious that peregrine falcons prefer to nest from their fellows at a considerable distance - about 2-5 km. Birds defend their possessions aggressively and actively, fearlessly attacking even such large enemies as an eagle or When a person appears, predators behave restlessly, circle overhead, scream loudly.

Feathered monogamous. Their pairs are formed for several years. The female lays eggs once a year and incubates them with the future father of the family. The hatched chicks are absolutely helpless. They will be able to fly only a month and a half after birth.

Nutrition

Most small birds know firsthand which bird flies the fastest and attacks mercilessly, because they make up most of the peregrine falcon's diet. Since the winged predator usually hunts in flight, sparrows, pigeons, larks, blackbirds become its prey. However, the predator does not disdain mammals: hares, mice, hamsters, squirrels. Sometimes he can even eat insects or frogs.

Peregrine Falcons hunt in pairs. Having found prey, the predator rapidly gains altitude and falls on the prey. At this moment, he picks up maximum speed. The blow is so strong that it is not uncommon for a falcon trophy to fall apart.

The feathered catch is delivered to the nest, where it is dealt with. Unlike most other predators, the falcon eats only the body of the prey. Over time, numerous bone remains of victims accumulate around the nests of the peregrine falcon.

Bird records

Ornithologists managed not only to find out which bird flies the fastest, but also to identify the fastest running bird. It turned out to be an ostrich, which picks up speed up to 70 km / h, despite its impressive size and significant weight.

A famous diver is the penguin. In addition, the inhabitant of the Antarctic is able to compete with the best swimmers - in the water the clumsy and clumsy polar inhabitant picks up speed up to 30 km / h.

Which bird flies the fastest and highest? There is no definite answer to this question. Usually, predators take off above all, since it is more convenient for them to look out for prey from a height. Stories are known of cases when birds of passage rose so high that they collided with airliners. Among them, migratory swans and vulture (vulture) were noted.

Which bird flies the fastest along a horizontal trajectory? Here the swift occupies a leading position. Its speed reaches 140 km / h, while the peregrine falcon moves no faster than 70 km / h during a period of calm.

Birds are a special kind of warm-blooded animals, characterized by a body covered with feathers and, as a rule, with forelimbs in the form of wings. This feature allows birds to move in different environments: fly, run on the ground, swim, while developing speeds beyond the capabilities of many other species of animals.

The fastest of the waterfowl, the penguin swims slowly on the surface of the water, like a duck. But when diving, he develops a speed of 36 km / h, flapping flipper-like wings and lowering and emerging from the water every minute to inhale air. The world champion in swimming among people swims 6 times slower than a penguin, and the world's fastest warships are capable of reaching a speed of 47 knots (87 km / h), ahead of the penguins only 2.4 times.

Top fastest birds in terms of flight speed - movement:

• Falcon Sapsan - 322 km / h
• Berkut - 300 km / h
• Needle-tailed swift - 170 km / h
• Frigates 153 km / h
• Spur goose 142 km / h
• Average Krokhal 129 km / h
• Ostrich - 70 km / h, record 92 km / h
• The penguin swims like a duck, and under water 36 km / h

In those areas of the Earth where a high speed of movement on it is a vital necessity (Africa, Australia, East Asia), ostriches live up to 2.5 m in height and weigh up to 0.15 tons, whose powerful limbs allow you to move in steps of up to 5 m from speed of 70 km / h. The famous Kenyan Noah Ngeni, who ran 1000 meters in 2 minutes. 11.96 sec., In a competition with an ostrich I would be 1 min behind it. 20 sec.

Birds set the most impressive records at air flights... In this type of movement, the champion in a dive flight is the peregrine falcon, which lives on all continents of the Earth except Antarctica. Not every car can be compared with a peregrine falcon that develops a speed of 90 m / s, i.e. 322 km / h. Among living creatures, only the black swift can compete with it, which is 2 times slower in diving flight, but outstripping the falcon in horizontal flight.

Predatory bird golden eagle living in the mountains and forests of 4 continents (Asia, Europe, North America and Europe) is considered the most dangerous of the hawk family. The golden eagle hunts not only birds, hares and rodents, but also cattle (calves, roe deer, deer and sheep), despite the fact that its length does not exceed 0.95 m, and its weight is 6.5 kg. The wingspan of the golden eagle reaches 2.2 m, the speed of a dive flight is 300 km / h, which is comparable to the fastest peregrine falcon. Since ancient times, the golden eagle, as an excellent hunter, enjoys human respect.

Very interesting video about EAGLES!

Needle-tailed swift inhabits the hollows of forest trees in Asia, including the southern part of Siberia and the Far East. His diet, with a small size and weight of his own body (length up to 0.2 m, weight up to 0.14 kg), are insects. Therefore, the needle-tailed swift does not need a high speed of diving flight, for it the speed of horizontal flight is more important, which is the highest speed of all birds in the world of 170 km / h with a wingspan of up to 0.55 m.

All 5 species of the genus of birds frigate live in the tropics and subtropics in areas with reservoirs, over which they spend a long time in soaring flight, looking out for their prey. The main objects of the frigate's hunt are flying fish and fish caught by other aquatic birds, which frigates take away from them. This hunting method is available to frigates, thanks to their physical data: a large body up to 1.14 m long, a weight of up to 1.6 kg, a narrow wingspan of up to 2.44 m and a high flight speed of 153 km / h, which in absolute terms takes 4- e in the world, and second in horizontal flight speed.

Large in size clawed goose up to 1.15 m long and weighing up to 10 kg, it is distributed on the shores of reservoirs south of the Sahara Desert. Its diet is quite varied and includes plant foods (coastal and aquatic), insects (termites, beetles, caterpillars) and small fish. A lot of such food is required to meet the needs of a large bird, it has to be collected from a vast territory, for flying around which the clawed goose is equipped with wingspan up to 2 m and develops a flight speed of 142 km / h, slightly lagging behind the frigate in this indicator.

Waterfowl middle merganser, which is small in size (length up to 0.62 m, weight up to 1.4 kg), lives on the coastal shores of North Asia, Europe and America covered with dense grass. The average merganser feeds on aquatic plants, insects, worms, crustaceans, amphibians, but its main food is small fish, for catching which it is able to dive for 0.5 minutes to a depth of 30 m. Extraction of small food also requires the ability to move quickly, with a swing wings up to 0.86 m, the average merganser develops a flight speed of 129 km / h, closing in this indicator the five fastest-flying birds in the world.

High diving the speed of the peregrine falcon developed in connection with his hunting technique: planning high in the sky to find a victim, diving towards it at maximum speed to deliver a powerful blow with limbs pressed to the body. With such a blow, a falcon is able to cut off the head of a victim, for example, a duck or a pigeon, despite the fact that its size is comparable to that of a crow.

Despite its long lifespan, preserving the ability to reproduce throughout its life and easy adaptability to any living environment from the hot tropics to the arctic cold, the peregrine falcon, as a result of the use of pesticides and other substances that pollute the atmosphere, has become a rare bird listed in the Red Book. In the eastern states of the United States and in many countries of Europe, peregrine falcons have disappeared, in the western states of the United States, their population has declined by 90%. Since the 1970s, ecological programs have allowed the falcon population to be gradually restored. In the Russian Federation, it has reached 3 thousand pairs, a nursery has been created in the Galichya Gora nature reserve. In the United States, peregrine falcons breed in nests on skyscrapers and cathedrals. In Canada and Germany, open-air cages have been set up for raising young animals. In England, the Royal Society for the Protection of Peregrine Falcons and Other Birds functions.

Peregrine falcon among falcons is a large bird up to 0.5 m long, wingspan up to 1.2 m, female weight up to 1.5 kg, male is 2 times smaller. An active predator, the peregrine falcon has hard muscles, a broad chest, sharp claws, large eyes and a sickle-shaped beak with teeth for biting the victim's neck.

The group of the falcon family with a peregrine falcon includes the gyrfalcon, saker falcon, laggar, Mexican and Mediterranean falcons, the evolutionary divergence between them began millions of years ago. When crossed in open-air cages, the peregrine falcon with other representatives of this group, the offspring acquire the qualities of both parents. For example, the descendant of the peregrine falcon and the Mediterranean falcon acquires the stamina of the Mediterranean falcon and the hunting instinct of the peregrine falcon.

The scientific name of the peregrine falcon in European languages ​​comes from the Latin word falco (curved sickle) and peregrinus (wandering) - Falco peregrinus or peregrine falcon (English),. faucon pèlerin (French), falco pellegrino (Italian), wanderfalke (German), pilgrimsfalk (Swedish). The Russian name "peregrine falcon" presumably comes from Kalmyk (real falcon).

Peregrine falcon habitats are most often inaccessible to humans (rocks of the banks of reservoirs and mountains, cliffs of mountain rivers, moss swamps), less often on the roofs of city churches and multi-storey buildings. Peregrine falcons often stay overwintered in their permanent habitat or near it, but in the Arctic climate they are able to fly over very long distances. Peregrine falcons carefully guard their territory, displacing even flying eagles and humans from it. Nests are located near water bodies, in crevices of rocks, on bumps of swamps, in tree hollows, sometimes they capture nests in trees, entwined with crows, kites and other birds of prey, in cities on bell towers, chimneys, cornices high-rise buildings... The female lays eggs in late April or early May, both the female and the male incubate eggs for more than a month. After the chicks are born, the male gets food, and the female warms up the offspring. At 1.5 months of age, the chicks begin to fly.

The peregrine falcon's diet includes birds, small mammals, insects and amphibians (sparrows, pigeons, ducks, starlings, the bats, hares, squirrels, gophers). The peregrine falcon raises its prey high to the nesting site.

Since ancient times in Mongolia, China, the Middle East, people have used peregrine falcons for falconry. Egyptian god the sun was depicted as a disk with falcon wings or a man with a nightingale's head. In Europe, the falcon began to be used for hunting only in the 3rd century. the elite of society. From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, the coronation of English kings was accompanied by the donation of a pair of peregrine falcons. In Russia, the Khazar nomads made falconry popular. Later, the image of a peregrine falcon appeared in the center of the coat of arms of the Bashkir city of Kumertau, the Russian cities of Sokol and Suzdal. Peregrine falcon symbolism is widely used by many countries: in the name of a motorcycle, fighter plane and spacecraft in Japan, the name of a high-speed electric train from Siemens, the image on a commemorative coin of the US state of Idaho.

Peregrine Falcon, as the absolute champion in dive flight speed, attracts the attention of a person throughout its history.

Birds are rightfully classified as the fastest living creatures on the planet. Moving in the air, flyers can develop tremendous speed. Some species of birds can compete in aerial flight with the first created aircraft.

speed 116 km / h

- a large waterfowl duck opens the rating of the fastest birds on the planet. With a body length of 48 to 56 cm and a weight of up to 1.5 kg, the dive is capable of speeds up to 116 km / h in the air. Its flight is notable for its lightness and longer duration among others from the duck family. In addition, the duck runs pretty fast and swims well. This species is widespread in Central, Central Asia and Western Siberia. These birds prefer to settle near fresh water bodies overgrown with reeds. The main food of the duck is seeds, aquatic plants, shellfish as well as fish.

speed 124 km / h

With a horizontal flight speed of 124 km / h, it is on the ninth line of the ranking of the fastest birds in the world. These are small birds, similar in appearance to swallows, are widespread in Europe, North Africa and Asia. Rocky areas are chosen for habitation, but they can also exist in urban environments. The main food of the white-breasted American swift is insects, which it catches in flight. They spend most of their lives in the air and prefer not to build their nests, but to settle in other people's dwellings - swifts and swallows.

speed 129 km / h

Belongs to the duck family and is considered one of the fastest birds in the world. In flight, the duck can pick up speed up to 129 km / h. The average merganser is rather large - its body length can reach half a meter, and its weight is –1.3 kg. Like others in the duck family, this species can swim and dive well. You can meet the middle merganser in North America and Eurasia. For habitation, he chooses flowing lakes and rivers, where he feeds on fish, frogs, insects and worms.

speed 142 km / h

It is one of the fastest birds in the world, capable of speeds up to 142 km / h in flight. This kind belongs to the duck family and is rather large: in length it can reach 1 meter, and in body weight it gains up to 6 kg. Males are larger than females. The spur goose runs quite well and nimbly on the ground, and in its manner of movement it resembles a heron. It is distributed in South America, in particular in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa and prefers to settle near freshwater reservoirs. As food, these geese prefer aquatic and coastal plants as well as insects and small fish.

speed 147 km / h

With dimensions of 81 cm in length and a wingspan of 2 meters, it can pick up speed in airspace up to 147 km / h. For a very long time, it is able to stay in flight and in its entire life covers huge distances, bending around several times Earth... Its habitat is the islands of the Southern Ocean. Gray-headed albatrosses feed mainly on squid, fish and molluscs. They can dive to a depth of 7 m for food.

speed 150 km / h

He is one of the fastest flyers in the world, which picks up speed up to 150 km / h. Most of the time frigates prefer to hover in the air without moving their wings. They have rather long and narrow wings, the span of which can reach 2.5 m. With an increase of 1.1 m in length in body weight, they can reach 1.5 kg. Skillful flyers move around rather awkwardly and cannot swim. Distinctive feature the male is a red inflatable throat sac with which he lures the female. These birds have chosen tropical and subtropical islands as their habitat. They can be found in Australia and Polynesia. Since the frigates themselves cannot swim, they hunt flying fish, or take prey from water birds.

speed 160 km / h

- a small bird of prey of the falcon family is one of the fastest birds in the world in terms of flight speed. With a wingspan of 80 cm, the hobbyist is capable of speeds up to 160 km / h. Outwardly, it looks like a peregrine falcon, but differs in size, which is 28-36 cm. The flaps of its wings are fast and maneuverable, alternating with sliding, acquiring the shape of a sickle. The flyer is widespread throughout the continent of Eurasia and prefers to settle in forests and forest-steppe zones. Since it is a predator, it feeds on small birds, as well as large insects - beetles, butterflies and dragonflies. Less often, mice and other small animals become its delicacies.

speed 170 km / h

Unlocks the top three fastest birds in the world. A flyer of the Swift family with a wingspan of 55 cm is capable of gaining speed in horizontal flight of 170 km / h. Its body length reaches 22 cm, and its weight is about 150 grams. Needle-bordered swifts can be found in South Asia, Far East and Siberia. For settlement, they choose groves and forests near water bodies. The peculiarity of these flyers is that they never land on the ground.

speed 320 km / h

- one of the fastest flyers, capable of gaining speed up to 320 km / h in flight. It is a bird of prey that belongs to the hawk family. The body length of an eagle can reach 1 meter, and its weight ranges from 3 to 7 kg. Its wingspan varies within 2–2.4 m. In search of prey, hunters are able to soar high in the sky for a long time, while their activity remains minimal. Their movements in the air are light and maneuverable. Noticing the prey, the golden eagle rapidly picks up speed and rushes to the prey. The predator chooses birds, rodents, and hares as its prey. It can also profit from large, sick prey in the form of roe deer, deer, sheep and calves. The habitat of the golden eagle is quite wide and includes most of the Holarctic, Alaska, Canada, Scotland, the Caucasus, etc. It can also be found throughout the forest zone of Russia.

speed 350 km / h

Is the fastest flyer on planet Earth. The bird of prey belongs to the falcon family and has the widest habitat - all continents, excluding Antarctica. Its wingspan during flight is 1.1 m. When prey dives, the predator develops a speed of up to 350 km / h, this distance is about 1 km per minute. The body of an adult peregrine falcon can reach half a meter in length, and a bird can gain weight up to 1 kg. He loves to hunt medium-sized birds - pigeons, blackbirds, starlings and ducks. Sometimes small mammals can become its victims. For habitation, the hunter chooses inaccessible places for a person - these are most often rocky shores of reservoirs.

Birds are amazing creatures of nature. Most of them are heavenly inhabitants with a truly enormous supply of strength. They are also the fastest creatures on the planet, the speed of which any representative of the animal world can envy.

1st place: Peregrine falcon

The fastest flyer on Earth is the peregrine falcon. The size of this small gray bird does not exceed the size of a common crow. The peregrine falcon's head is black, and the abdomen is light gray. It inhabits mainly mountainous or hilly areas.

Peregrine Falcon is the leader of a dive flight. Seeing the prey, he throws himself down like a stone, developing a speed of up to 380 km / h (100 m / s).

2nd place: Black Swift

If the peregrine falcon is the king of the pique, then the black swift is considered the champion of horizontal flight. The maximum weight of this bird is only 150 grams, but this does not prevent it from reaching speeds of up to 170 km / h.

Almost the entire life of a swift passes in the air - in the truest sense of the word. Having flown out of the nest at 8 weeks, the bird lands on the ground only after 3 years in order to breed offspring and rise up again. She even sleeps in the air, flying in a circle and waking up only for the next flap of her wings.

3rd place: Cheglok

The third place in horizontal flight is taken by another representative of the falcon family - the hobby. The maximum speed of this bird is 160 km / h.

4th place: Frigate

Another master of horizontal flight is the frigate. The handsome white-breasted man is capable of accelerating to 153 km / h. The bird has an impressive size (about 1m in height) and a two-meter wingspan. Moreover, its weight is relatively small - about 1.5 kg. The main diet of frigates consists of flying fish. You need to have considerable dexterity, keen eyesight and a good reaction to catch a fish jumping out of the water on the fly.

5th place: Gray-headed albatross

The bird ranks fifth in the ranking of the fastest birds. Its maximum flight speed is 150 km / h. In addition, the albatross was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most hardy birds. It will not be difficult for him to fly at a speed of 130 km / h for 8 hours. The wingspan of the tireless handsome man reaches 3.5 meters.

6th place: Spur goose

The flight speed of the feathered record holder is 142 km / h. This is a fairly large bird - its size can reach 80-100 cm, and its body weight is 6 kg. Nature generously endowed the clawed goose with colorful plumage: a juicy black color with small white splashes favorably sets off the violet-green tint on the back and wings. The goose got its name from the blunt horny spur located at the fold of its wing.

7th place: White-breasted swift

Honored 7th place - the speed with which this nimble bird flies is approaching 120 km / h. Swifts have very short legs, so most of their life is spent in the air.

8th place: Gaga

These birds can be easily confused with a duck or goose. But in reality, the eider is a seabird that lives on coasts with cold waters. The eider rarely rises into the air, however, its flight speed can reach 100 km / h. The eider is not only one of the fastest birds, it is also an excellent diver: getting food, it can easily dive even to a depth of 50 meters.

9th place: Homing pigeon

The next place is occupied by well-known carrier pigeons. The speed with which these birds can move in the sky is 90 km / h. Some individuals are more hardy than albatrosses and can survive in the air for up to 16 hours. Pigeons have an incredible memory: fulfilling the instructions of the owner, they easily fly a considerable distance and always return home.

10th place: Starling

This small bird of dark color is famous not only for its pleasant singing voice. Starlings are not bad flyers. Their flight speed can reach 70 km / h. Ptah can be found in almost every corner of the world.

Mankind has been associated with this falcon for a very long time, back in Ancient egypt one of the gods was depicted with the head of a peregrine falcon. For many centuries, the nomadic peoples of Asia have been raising and using peregrine falcons to hunt small animals. In nature, the falcon prefers to hunt birds, and in most cases it does it in the air. Before attacking the victim, he rises up, quickly gaining height, and then "like a stone" falls vertically down. It is almost impossible to catch this with the human eye - the bird develops a speed of up to 100 m / s (about 350 km / h). You can only hear the whistle emitted by the feathers, which at the peak of speed turns into a trumpet rumble. The falcon hunts for sparrows, blackbirds, pigeons, ducks, less often - for hares, squirrels, bats, does not disdain insects and amphibians. The only one to whom of its prey the peregrine falcon is almost inferior in speed is the black swift.

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Black swift

These small birds, about 25 cm long, develop a horizontal flight speed of up to 180 km / h, which allows them to escape the pursuit of predators. However, unlike the swallow, with which it is often compared, the swift is less agile: in order to turn around, it lays a very large turn.

Chizh not only flies fast. He is a true celestial: he eats, drinks, mates and even sleeps in the sky on the fly. A swift can be in continuous flight for up to 4 years and fly up to 500,000 km during this time.

Photo source: http://volgabirds.ru/

Gray-headed albatross

The albatross cannot dive at high speed, cannot sleep at an altitude of 2-3 km, circling in one place, but its huge wings with a span of up to 3.5 meters make it possible to maintain a "cruising" flight speed of 130 km / h for a long time (up to 8 ocloc'k). This was proven thanks to the tracking devices installed on the investigated representatives. This species of albatross spends most of the day in the open ocean, hunting fish, crustaceans, squid, lampreys and even carrion. Sometimes they have to dive for prey to a depth of 7 meters.

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Eiders dive somewhat better than albatrosses; they spend most of their time in the littoral part of the sea (part of the bottom between high tide and low tide), where they pick up food from the bottom. With the help of their wings, they plunge to a depth of 20 m, where they catch crustaceans, aquatic invertebrates, fish, and collect mollusks. But in speed they are somewhat inferior to albatrosses - the average flight speed is about 100 km / h. Eiders fly low above the water and very rarely come to land, mainly for the sake of rest or breeding, while keeping to the coastal zone and do not fly into the depths.

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Carrier pigeons

People have known for a long time about the ability of carrier pigeons to memorize the road and travel great distances, delivering mail or messages. These amazing birds can stay in the air for up to 16 hours a day without interruption. Carrier pigeons helped deliver mail during World War II, for which monuments were erected to them in many European cities. Carrying out the instructions given to them, pigeons could fly at a speed of 85-100 km / h, so specially trained falcons were used to intercept pigeon mail.

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The first birds to arrive from warm countries are starlings. They have not only a pleasant voice and are known not only for their "enviable" family. Starlings are capable of speeds up to 70 km / h, while they cover hundreds of kilometers annually, flying away for wintering and returning back. Starlings have recently begun to live closer to human habitation. They do not build permanent nests, therefore, after the chicks, having fledged, fly out of the nests, they gather in flocks and circle over the city in search of food.

Recently, a question arose among ornithologists, to which the answer has not yet been found: "How do starlings manage to fly into a small hole-entrance to the birdhouse at high speed on the fly and not get injured?"

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Fieldbirds differ from their counterparts in their original plumage, more large size, an unusual voice, large schooling colonies (up to 40 pairs) and his love for mountain ash. However, they do not disdain other berries, as well as insects. Every winter, northern fieldfare, gathering in large colonies, migrate to warmer regions. However, despite the larger size than that of the starling (length up to 25 cm, wingspan up to 45 cm), their flight speed is somewhat lower - rarely exceeds 70 km / h.

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Martin

Swifts are often confused with swallows, but the latter are distinguished by wider wings and a more pronounced "fork" of the tail. Visually, especially when swifts and swallows fly side by side, it seems that the swallows fly faster, but in fact, the speed of even a rustic, even a coastal swallow is much lower - about 65 km / h. The apparent speed is due to the fact that swifts use a different "style" of flight - they often hover in the air and soar. Swallows, on the other hand, are constantly in motion and often change direction of flight, they are more maneuverable and, moreover, can turn sharply 360 degrees almost on the spot.

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Common Kestrel and Siskin

The kestrel is a distant relative of the peregrine falcon, it hunts for rodents, falling from above. However, unlike peregrine falcons, looking out for prey, the kestrel prefers to fly slowly or alternate between fast flight and gliding through the air. If necessary, the kestrel can fly by inertia or not fully opening its wings. The average speed of a kestrel is 60-65 km / h.