The fastest living creatures on the planet rightly include birds. Moving in the air, flyers can develop tremendous speed. Some species of birds can compete in the air expansion with the first aircraft created.
The rating includes the fastest birds in the world. Some of them develop maximum speed during horizontal flight, while others - when diving.
10. Dive | speed 116 km / h
Dive - A large waterfowl opens the ranking of the fastest birds on the planet. With a body length of 48 to 56 cm and a mass of up to 1.5 kg, the dive is capable of speeds in air of up to 116 km / h. Its flight is characterized by ease and longer duration among others from the family of ducks. 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 next to fresh water reservoirs overgrown with reeds. The main food for the dive is seeds, aquatic plants, mollusks, and also fish.
9. White-breasted American Swift | speed 124 km / h
White-breasted American Swift with a horizontal flight speed of 124 km / h, it is on the ninth line in the rating of the fastest birds in the world. These are small birds that look like swallows, are widespread in Europe, North Africa and Asia. Rocky terrain is chosen for habitation, but can also exist in urban conditions. The main food of the white-breasted American swift is the insects that it catches in flight. Most of their lives are spent in the air and prefer not to twist their nests, but to settle in other people's homes - swifts and swallows.
8. Medium Merganser | speed 129 km / h
Merganser Belongs to the family of ducks and is considered one of the fastest birds in the world. In flight, the duck can pick up speed up to 129 km / h. Medium merganser is quite large - its body length can reach half a meter, and weight –1.3 kg. Like others from the duck family, this species is able to swim and dive well. You can meet the average merganser in North America and Eurasia. For habitat, he chooses flowing lakes and rivers, where he feeds on fish, frogs, insects and worms.
7. Spur goose | speed 142 km / h
Spur goose is one of the fastest birds in the world, which is capable of speeds in flight up to 142 km / h. This species belongs to the family of ducks and has a fairly large size: 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 pretty well and nimbly runs on the ground, and in the manner of movement resembles a heron. It is common in South America, in particular in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa and prefers to settle next to freshwater bodies of water. As a food, these geese prefer aquatic and coastal plants, as well as insects and small fish.
6. Gray-headed albatross | speed 147 km / h
Gray-headed Albatross with dimensions of 81 cm in length and a wingspan of 2 meters, it can gain speed in airspace up to 147 km / h. For a very long time, it has been able to stay in flight and for its entire life covers enormous distances, enveloping the globe several times. Its habitat is the islands of the Southern Ocean. Gray-headed albatrosses feed mainly on squid, fish and shellfish. They can dive to a depth of 7 m to get food.
5. Frigate | speed of 150 km / h
Frigate is one of the fastest flyers in the world, which picks up speed up to 150 km / h. Most frigates prefer to soar 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 rather awkwardly and cannot swim. A distinctive feature of the male is an inflatable red throat bag with which he lures the female. These birds have chosen the habitat of the islands of the tropical and subtropical zones. They can be found in Australia and Polynesia. Since the frigates themselves do not know how to swim, they hunt for flying fish, or take prey from water birds.
4. Cheglok | speed 160 km / h
Cheglock - 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 cheglock is capable of speeds up to 160 km / h. Outwardly, it looks like a peregrine falcon, but differs in size, which are 28-36 cm. The flaps of its wings are fast and maneuverable, alternate with sliding, acquiring the shape of a sickle. Summer 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 his delicacy.
3. Needle-Tailed Swift | speed of 170 km / h
Needletail Swift opens the top three fastest birds in the world. With a wingspan of 55 cm, a flyer of the Swift family is capable of gaining speed in a horizontal flight of 170 km / h. The length of his body reaches 22 cm, and the weight is about 150 g. Needle swifts can be found in South Asia, the Far East and Siberia. For the settlement, they choose groves and forests near ponds. The peculiarity of these flyers is that they never land on the ground.
2. Golden Eagle | speed 320 km / h
Golden eagle - One of the fastest flyers, capable of gathering speed in flight up to 320 km / h. This is a bird of prey, which belongs to the hawk family. The length of the body of an eagle can reach 1 meter, and its weight is from 3 to 7 kg. Its wingspan varies between 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. Having noticed the prey, the golden eagle rapidly picks up speed and rushes to the prey. The predator chooses birds, rodents, hares as a sacrifice. Can also profit from a large, sick prey in the form of roe deer, deer, sheep and calves. The habitat of the golden eagle is wide enough and includes most of the Holarctic, Alaska, Canada, Scotland, the Caucasus, etc. It can also be found throughout the forest zone of Russia.
1. Peregrine Falcon | speed 350 km / h
Peregrine falcon - 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 diving, prey develops a speed of up to 350 km / h, per minute this distance is about 1 km. The body of an adult peregrine falcon can reach half a meter in length, and a bird can gain in 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 habitat, the hunter chooses inaccessible places for humans - these are most often the rocky shores of reservoirs.