List of birds by flight heights

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This is a list of birds by flight height.

## Birds by flight height

Bird  | Image  | Species  | Family  | Maximum height  | Details

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Rüppell's vulture |  | Gyps rueppellii | Accipitridae | 11,300 metres (37,100 feet).[1][2] | Vultures use their excellent eyesight to scan the landscape below from a relatively static aerial position. Instead of flying over a larger distance, they use elevation to expand their field of vision. If they spot a meal down below, the climb has an immediate payoff.[3] A bird strike was recorded at this height in 1973.
Common crane |  | Grus grus | Gruidae  | 10,000 metres (33,000 feet)  | This height was recorded above the Himalayas.[2] This great height allows them to avoid eagles in mountain passes.[2]
Bar-headed goose |  | Anser indicus | Anatidae | 8,800 metres (29,000 feet)[2][4][5] | They also fly over the peaks of the Himalayas on their migratory path.[4]
Whooper swan |  | Cygnus cygnus | Anatidae | 8,200 metres (27,000 feet)  | This height was attained by a flock of whooper swans flying over Northern Ireland, and recorded by radar.[2][5]
Alpine chough |  | Pyrrhocorax graculus | Corvidae | 8,000 metres (26,500 feet)  | This height was recorded on Mount Everest.[5]
Bearded vulture |  | Gypaetus barbatus | Accipitridae | 7,300 metres (24,000 feet).[1] |
Andean condor |  | Vultur gryphus | Cathartidae | 6,500 metres (21,300 feet)[6] |
Mallard |  | Anas platyrhynchos | Anatidae | 6,400 metres (21,000 feet)  | This height was recorded over Nevada.[1][4][5]
Bar-tailed godwit |  | Limosa lapponica | Scolopacidae | 6,000 metres (20,000 feet)[5][7] | It can reach this height while migrating.
White stork |  | Ciconia ciconia | Ciconiidae | 4,800 metres (16,000 feet).[7] | It can reach this height while migrating.

The black kite can reach an altitude of around 37,000 feet especially during their migratory flight to and from West Africa in the second week of September and the last week of May annually. The black kite extremely high altitude flight can be confirmed during the second week of September from any of the South Western States in Nigeria.[citation needed]

## See also

* Organisms at high altitude
* List of birds by flight speed

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Laybourne, Roxie C. (December 1974). "Collision between a Vulture and an Aircraft at an Altitude of 37,000 Feet". The Wilson Bulletin (Wilson Ornithological Society) 86 (4): 461–462. ISSN 0043-5643. OCLC 46381512.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Carwardine, Mark (2008). Animal Records. Sterling. p. 124. ISBN 1402756232. https://books.google.com/books?id=T3FEKopUFkUC&pg=PA124.
3. ↑ "The Ruppells Griffon Vulture; The Highest Recorded Flying Bird". https://blogs.bu.edu/bioaerial2012/2012/09/26/the-ruppells-griffon-vulture-the-highest-recorded-flying-bird/.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lincoln, Frederick C. (1999). Migration of Birds. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. p. 30. ISBN 0160617014. https://books.google.com/books?id=Gsp07mQKBuIC&pg=PA30.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Whiteman, Lily (2000). "The High Life". Audubon 102 (6): 104–108. http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/birds/birds0011.html. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
6. ↑ Gargiulo, Carolina Natalia (2012). Distribución y situación actual del cóndor andino (Vultur gryphus) en las sierras centrales de Argentina (PDF) (Thesis). Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Elphick, Jonathan (2007). The Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World's Birds. Struik. p. 23. ISBN 1770074996. https://books.google.com/books?id=j91I9I4pq20C&pg=PT28.

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