Have you ever seen the tallest bird in the world?
How high do you think birds can fly?
Birds in nature are more talented than you might think, and today we're going to take stock of the ten highest flying birds in the world.
birds
The ranking list is mainly based on the comprehensive collation of related similar websites, through Baidu and other search sites to sort out the flight height of related birds, etc., the list ranking is for reference only, if you have any questions, welcome to criticize and correct at the end of the comment area.
bird
Tenth place White Stork
This bird is a migratory animal that travels to a warm place every winter to spend the winter, which sounds like the habits of Asian birds, but in fact the white stork is an authentic European bird. During migration, the behavior of China's geese is similar, with dozens or even hundreds of geese lined up in one or more rows. Direction is discerned by the lead white stork, which flies at altitudes between 1600 and 3600 meters.
white stork
This is not their limit, and the potential of the white stork seems endless. There have been traces of white storks at an altitude of 4300 meters in the Himalayas, and it is unknown whether white storks can fly higher. And its meaning is also very auspicious, the white stork is called the bird of the child, its appearance will bring good luck, but also the national bird of Germany.
Ninth Andean condor
With a body length of 130 centimeters, a weight of 20 kilograms, and wings spreading up to 3 meters, this is the world's largest bird - the Andean condor. But the sheer size didn't limit the Andean condor's flight to higher skies; on the contrary, the Andean condor's powerful muscles and wings could take it to an altitude of 4,572 meters.
Andean condor
The Andean condor seems to be really a divine bird blessed by heaven, with a huge body that no bird can defeat, can fly higher to see different scenery, and live long enough! The average lifespan of the Andean condor is around 50 years, and this lucky bird is used by many countries as a symbol on the national flag and coat of arms.
Eighth spot Spotted Sandpiper
This kind of bird is not ordinary, the general bird likes to live in a warm place, and when the temperature drops in winter, the bird will migrate to a warm place, but the spot-tailed sandpiper goes against the way. It spends an entire winter in Siberia, where the weather is extreme, and birds that can survive the winter must have great endurance, so the spot-tailed sandpiper can fly up to 11,677 kilometers in one breath.
Spot-tailed sandpiper
This is the limit that most birds can't reach, and the spot-tailed sandpiper can fly at an altitude of up to 6,000 meters, which is what they are proud of. When skimming high in the air, the male birds will make a showy chirp.
Seventh place Mallard
Speaking of which, you may have to ask, what we are talking about today is the highest flying bird, what is the duck to join in the fun? This green duck is, of course, different from the ducks we have at home. This duck lives on the shores of freshwater lakes, and this large duck can reach a length of nearly fifty centimeters and weighs up to one kilogram, which is relatively large among ducks.
Mallard duck
Don't look at it called the green water duck, but its flight altitude can reach 6400 meters, which is more than most birds, and now no one can underestimate the duck!
Sixth place Bearded Vulture
Now that we're talking about birds, how can we skip eagles? In our Chinese minds, the eagle is a very powerful being, fighting the long sky, the king of the air, in fact, the bearded vulture is a large vulture, one of the most dangerous birds in the world. It can reach a length of 1.5 meters, and its wings are spread nearly three meters, which is not inferior to the Andean condor.
Bearded vultures
Strong feet and sharp eagle claws, with the bearded vulture flew to an altitude of 7300 meters, such a height that people on the ground could hardly see its figure, so that all the weak could not reach it.
Fifth place Yellow-billed crow
This is a native Chinese bird, which is one of the rare birds with extremely high flight heights, and is more common in Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Sichuan and other places in China. The flying altitude of the yellow-billed mountain crow can reach 8200 meters, and the bird that can fly so high is not ordinary.
alpine chough
The yellow-billed mountain crow lives in a cave 2500 meters to 5000 meters high, such a high place, in addition to some fierce birds such as eagles can threaten it, humans and other birds are not a threat to it at all, so the yellow-billed mountain crow is also leisurely in such a high altitude.
Fourth spot Spotted Goose
Everyone has heard of mount Everest, the world's highest peak, such a high mountain, even a well-equipped person is not fully sure that he can turn over, let alone birds! It is not just a matter of altitude, the flight height of the spotted goose can reach more than 8800 meters, and it is not uncommon for birds to fly higher than it, but the biggest problem lies in the thin oxygen.
Spotted geese
At such a high altitude, oxygen is very thin, but the spotted goose happens to have a special hemoglobin in the body, which can quickly synthesize oxygen, which solves the problem of high oxygen vacancy, so the spotted goose can smoothly turn over Mount Everest. Other birds can only be envious, after all, even if they try to fly so high, they will die because of lack of oxygen!
Third place Alpine vulture
The vultures mostly feed on animal carcasses, so the alpine vulture is no exception, and it also feeds on carcasses such as cattle and sheep. Its flight altitude can reach more than 9,000 meters, and the height of Mount Everest is only 8,888 meters, which means that the alpine vulture can easily climb Mount Everest!
Alpine vultures
Although the spotted geese after it can also fly over, but flying not high enough will have the danger of hitting the ice cliff, at their flight speed once they hit the ice cliff, then the high probability will be a life, and the alpine vulture does not have this safety hazard, it often flies at an altitude of about 6000 meters to find prey, after eating and drinking enough to rest in a cave nearly three thousand meters high, is the lonely king in the sky.
Second place Big Swan
Speaking of swans, the first thing we think of is definitely elegance, swans with their beautiful appearance, slender neck, often used for ornamental use. Most of the world's beautiful things can't withstand tossing, so it defaults to the fact that swans don't fly high, but in fact, giant swans can fly at an altitude of more than 9,000 meters, which is one of the highest birds in the world.
whooper swan
Beneath the feminine appearance of the swans, there is such a fierce strength, and if we are lucky enough, in the spring in North China, we can see the flocks of migrating swans. They are arranged in a one-line or herringbone shape, and they are also pleasing to the eye!
First black and white vulture
It is also a close relative of the alpine vulture, which also has strong wings and muscles, and also feeds on animal carcasses, but the black and white vultures obviously have stronger flight capabilities. The black and white vultures can fly at an altitude of 11,000 meters, making it the highest bird ever recorded in the world.
Since you can fly so high, the problem of thin oxygen in the high altitude is as difficult as the black and white vultures and spotted geese. They have the same hemoglobin and can use scarce oxygen at high altitude to maintain their normal flight, the current flight record of the black and white vulture is 11,000 meters, but it is very likely that the black and white vulture can fly higher!
Black and white vultures on branches
In 1973, pilots flew the plane high into the air, they thought that birds could not tread at such a high place, but then the engine came to the movement, and after inspection, it was found that a flying black and white vulture was caught up in the jet engine of the aircraft, at this time at an altitude of 11,000 meters above the ground.
Black and white vultures in the air
This is the maximum height ever measured by a bird, but it cannot be said that it is the maximum height that a black and white vulture can reach, after all, it still has a lot of potential. What are your thoughts on this? You can leave a comment in the comment area to discuss.
Vulture
Text | Everyone is a science popularizer
Edit | Everyone is a science popularizer