The record-breaking bird that started the Guinness Book of World Records
There are so many cool bird species in the world, and many of them are record-setters!
What’s the fastest bird in the world?
The slowest?
The heaviest?
The most promiscuous?
The most loyal?
Did you know? Guinness Book of World Records – an obvious source for the answer to questions like “what’s the world’s fastest bird?” – actually came into existence because of an argument about the fastest game bird in Europe!!!
In 1951, one Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of Guinness Breweries (yes, the alcohol), was in southeastern Ireland with a group of friends, enjoying a day’s shooting. Failing to shoot a Golden Plover, Sir Hugh maintained that this must be the world’s fastest flying game bird.
His companions disagreed. (Good thing, too!)
Sir Hugh used his own fortune from Guinness Breweries to research the question, and that’s how the Guinness Book of World records got started.
Today, let’s learn about some record-setting birds!
The fastest bird in the world
Sir Hugh Beaver was totally wrong when he thought it was the Golden Plover. Considered one of the fastest-flying shorebirds, though, this plover is able to reach speeds of up to 96km her hour (about 60 miles) per hour.
Nothing to scoff at, but nothing considered to the actual fastest bird in the world - which can reach speeds of up to a whopping 390km per hour - 4 times more than the sluggish, sloth-like Golden Plover! Sorry to bash on the Golden Plover like that.
The fastest bird in the world is indisputably the Peregrine Falcon - their top recorded speed of 390km per hour even bests that of Formula 1 drivers.
However, the Peregrine Falcon can really only reach these insane speeds when they are diving for prey. They’ll fly up to to sky, spot their prey, angle their faces towards them, tuck their wings in, and then swoop in for the killing dive.
The slowest bird in the world
This distinction has to go to the hilariously named Woodcock birds!
American Woodcocks and Eurasian Woodcocks hold the honor of being recognized as the world’s slowest flying birds. They’ve been recorded flying at the “sloth-like” pace of 8 km/h (5 mph) during courtship displays.
Woodcocks are known for their unique courtship “sky dance”, climbing slowly into the night sky in large, almost lazy, flight circles, before tumbling erratically to the ground in a zig-zag spiral before starting the display again.
However, when migrating, American woodcocks do seem capable of picking up the pace a fair bit, with speeds of up between 26 and 45 km/h (16 to 28 mph) recorded, but they will remain at relatively low altitudes.
The heaviest bird in the world
No surprise here, but the heaviest bird in the world is also the tallest - it’s the Common Ostrich!
With its long neck and brown plumage, the ostrich is the tallest and heaviest bird on the planet. Females can grow up to six feet and weigh more than 200 pounds, while males can reach nine feet tall and roughly 280 pounds.
In fact, the Common Ostrich holds many records. Ostriches’ eyeballs are the largest eyes of any land animal: they are nearly two inches across.
The birds also have the largest eggs in the world. At more than three pounds, a single ostrich egg weighs as much as two dozen chicken eggs.
The Common Ostrich is so heavy they can’t fly, though.
The heaviest bird in the world that can fly is the Common Bustard. Clocking in at around 35 pounds, the great bustard is often referred to as the “flying fortress”.
The lightest bird in the world
It’s so small and light, it’s named after a bee!
The Bee Hummingbird, which is found only in Cuba, is an absolute miniature, even among hummingbirds. It measures a mere 6cm long. They weigh less than 2g — less than a dime of American money!
It’s no surprise that these tiny guys are actually often mistaken for bees. However, the avergae female worker honeybee actually weighs only 0.1 grams (one-tenth of a gram).
And, although the female worker bee barely weighs anything, she can bring back half her weight, i.e. 0.05g, of nectar to the hive. To bring in a kilogramme of nectar to the hive, it is necessary for the bee to make 50,000 trips.
The bird's slender, pointed bill is adapted for probing deep into flowers. The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar, by moving its tongue rapidly in and out of its mouth. In the process of feeding, the bird picks up pollen on its bill and head. When it flies from flower to flower, it transfers the pollen. In this way, it plays an important role in plant reproduction. In one day, the bee hummingbird may visit 1,500 flowers.
In a typical day, bee hummingbirds will consume up to half their body weight in food.
Thanks for reaching the end of today’s article. I really enjoyed writing today’s piece, and will need your help deciding which record-setting birds to cover next!! If you’ve got any questions about birds, please leave me a comment after you’ve read this article!
Want to know the world’s most expensive bird? (It’ll shock you - it’s actually a pretty common bird, but it sold over over $2 million Singapore dollars.
The brightest-coloured bird in the world?
The laziest? (Seriously, they just lie on branches and look like a pile of dead leaves. And then they open their mouths and wait for food to come by!)
The biggest bird?
The most aquatic bird?
The bird that has killed the most people in the world?
Ask away!
Great piece! Thanks for sharing these fun facts
And bird that spends the most time in the air! You told me that one before