Fastest Birds by Top Speed

About This Dataset

The fastest birds by maximum recorded speed, in km/h. The peregrine falcon reaches 389 km/h - the fastest speed of any animal - but only in its hunting dive, or 'stoop'; the other birds' figures are for powered flapping or level flight.

✨ AI Insight

The peregrine falcon (389 km/h) is not just the fastest bird but the fastest animal on Earth - yet this speed is achieved only in a vertical hunting dive, where gravity does much of the work. That distinction explains the huge gap to the next bird, the gyrfalcon (209 km/h), also a diver. Below them the list shifts to genuine powered flight, where the white-throated needletail (169 km/h) is often cited as the fastest in level flapping flight, ahead of the Eurasian hobby (160), frigatebird (153) and even the humble rock dove or pigeon (149). The pattern highlights two different kinds of speed: the falcons' record-breaking gravity-assisted stoops versus the sustained muscular flight of swifts and pigeons.

Source: Wikipedia - Fastest Animals

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Peregrine falcon (dive) leads with 389 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 205 · median: 165.

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Gap in All Time: Peregrine falcon (dive) is 2.6× larger than Rock dove (pigeon).