This makes it the world's most widespread raptor, and one of the most widely found bird species. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand. The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. As is typical for bird-eating (avivore) raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. According to a National Geographic TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is 389 km/h (242 mph). It can reach over 320 km/h (200 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. There is no indication that bats are anywhere close to taking that record from them anytime soon.The peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus), also known simply as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey ( raptor) in the family Falconidae. Swift fans (not this kind) disappointed at the dethroning of their champion can take solace in the fact that the Common Swift still holds the record for longest continuous flight. This was a surprising result for everyone, including the scientists performing the study, and we can likely expect to hear about a lot more research into bat flight characteristics in the near future. By using a small airplane, tricky piloting, and some clever triangulation to follow bats tagged with radio transmitters, a research team was able to measure female bats flying at almost 45 m/s (99.5 mph), which is almost 50 percent faster than the Common Swift’s record. Like the speed of the White-throated Needletail, this was one of those “facts” that had never actually been verified. The accepted knowledge about bats in flight is that because of a lower mass-to-wing-area ratio and a less aerodynamic body shape, they are slower but more maneuverable fliers than birds. It held that title for seven years, but earlier this month scientists published a paper crowning a new fastest flier: the Brazilian free-tailed bat. At a scientifically verifiable 31m/s (69 mph), achieved during mating flights (also known as “ screaming parties”), the swift was named the fastest pair of wings in the world. It turns out that measuring the speed of animals in flight is actually fairly difficult, and it wasn’t until 2009 that a research team from Lund University in Sweden used high-speed cameras to scientifically measure what they believed to be the fastest flier on the planet, the Common Swift. That number, however, had never been scientifically proven. So for many years, it was commonly held by scientists that the fastest-flying bird in level flight was the White-throated Needletail (formerly known as the Spine-tailed Swift), which could supposedly reach speeds of up to 47m/s (105 mph). It has been measured at speeds above 83.3 m/s (186 mph), but only when stooping, or diving. It's a bat.īut first, some background: The Peregrine Falcon is indisputably the fastest animal in the sky. The answer might surprise you, because according to the latest research, the fastest flier in the animal kingdom isn't a bird at all. So who took the title? The Peregrine Falcon? A frigatebird? Perhaps the Grey-headed Albatross? None of the above. The Common Swift has officially lost its crown as the fastest-flying animal in the sky.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |