Largest Bird Wingspans
The living birds with the widest recorded wingspans, in metres. The wandering albatross of the southern oceans holds the record at about 3.63 m - nearly the length of a small car - enabling it to glide vast distances with barely a wingbeat.
About This Dataset
Largest Bird WingspansThe wandering albatross (3.63 m) and great white pelican (3.6 m) lead by the narrowest of margins, with the southern royal albatross (3.5 m) close behind - the three widest-winged birds alive separated by barely 13 centimetres. The list splits neatly by lifestyle: ocean-gliding albatrosses and water-associated pelicans dominate the very top, while the soaring land birds - Andean condor (3.3 m), marabou stork (3.2 m) and California condor (3.05 m) - form the next tier, using their broad wings to ride thermals rather than cross oceans. The trumpeter swan (2.8 m) closes the list. The clustering shows that a 3-metre-plus wingspan is the practical ceiling for powered flight, achieved only by birds that spend their lives soaring or gliding to offset the cost of such enormous wings.
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Largest Bird Wingspans
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