# Racing pigeons the fastest? Nope.



## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Recently in another thread, someone mentioned that the racing pigeon was the fastest bird in level flight. That didn't seem right to me, so I did a little research. I found out that a racing pigeon has been clocked at 110 mph, but that is presumably with a strong tail wind. The fastest bird in level flight without any wind is the red-breasted merganser at 100 mph. The diving peregrine falcon at 117 mph.

One site I found of particular interest was this from this web site (giving credit where credit is due). Although they got it from the "Bird Almanac". There is a note form me at the bottom of this posting, concerning the ivory-billed woodpecker.

I have highlighted some that were of particular interest to me.

http://www.trails.com/arts/amazing-bird-records.aspx

"Amazing Bird Records
Find out which birds are fastest, heaviest, smallest, have the greatest wingspan, have the longest bill, lay the largest clutch of eggs, have the most impressive migration path, and much more...

heaviest and tallest bird: ostrich at maximum 156 kg (345 lb) and 2.7 m (9 ft)

heaviest flying birth: great bustard at maximum 21 kg (46.3 lb)

largest extinct bird: Dromornis stirtoni of Australia at 454 kg (1,000 lb) and 3 m (10 ft) 

tallest extinct bird: giant moa of New Zealand at 3.7 m (12 ft)

greatest wingspan: wandering albatross at up to 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in) 

greatest wingspan of landbirds: Andean condor and marabou stork tied at 3.2 m (10.5 ft)

smallest bird: bee hummingbird at 5.7 cm (2.24 in) and 1.6 g (0.056 oz)

smallest flightless bird: inaccessible island rail at 12.5 cm (5 in) and 34.7 g (1.2 oz)

longest legs: ostrich longest legs relative to body length: black-winged stilt at 23 cm (9 in), or 60% of its height

absolute shortest legs: virtually non-existent in swifts (Apodidae)

longest toes relative to body length: northern jacana at 10 cm (4 in) 

longest bill relative to body length: swordtailed hummingbird at 10.5 cm (4.13 in)

absolute longest bill: Australian pelican at 47 cm (18.5 in) 

fastest-moving bird: diving peregrine falcon at 188 km/h (117 mph) 

fastest flapping flight. white-throated needle-tailed swift at 170 km/h (106 mph)

*fastest level-flight. red-breasted merganser at 161 km/h (100 mph)* 

absolute shortest bill: glossy swiftlet at just a few mm 

largest and fleshiest tongue: flamingo

longest tongue relative to body size: wryneck at two-thirds of its body length excluding the tail

smallest hearts relative to body size: Central and South American tinamous at 1.6-3. 1 % of body weight

longest feathers: onagadori, a domestic strain of red jungle fowl, at 10.59 m (34.75 ft)

longest tailfeathers: crested argus pheasant at 173 cm (5.7 ft)

longest tail coverts: Indian and green peafowl at 160 cm (5.24 ft) 

widest tail feathers: crested argus pheasant at 13 cm (5.1 in)

longest tail feathers relative to body length: fork-tailed flycatcher at 27 cm (10.75 in)

longest primary feathers relative to body length: permant-winged nightjar at 60 cm (2 fit) 

shortest tails: virtually non-existent in kiwis, emus, rheas, cassowaries 

greatest number of feathers: whistling swan at 25,216

lowest number of feathers: ruby-throated hummingbird at 940

most secondary flight feathers: wandering and royal albatrosses with 40 secondaries and 11 primaries on each wing

largest eyeball: ostrich with a diameter of 5 cm (2 in)

*fastest-moving racing pigeon: 177 km/h (110 mph)* 

slowest-flying bird: American woodcock at 8 km/h (5 mph)

fastest wingbeat: hummingbirds, e.g., amethyst woodstar and horned sungem, at 90/sec

slowest wingbeat: vultures at 1/sec

longest soaring bird: albatrosses and condors 

smallest soaring bird: swift 

highest flying bird: Ruppell's griffon vulture at 11,274 in (7 mi)

*most aerial bird: sooty terns at 3 to 10 years without landing *

*most aerial landbird: common swift at 3 years without landing*

longest two-way migration: Arctic tern at 40,200 km (25,000 miles) 

longest migration (assuming a coastal route): common tern at 26,000 km ( 16,210 miles) in January 1997

most aquatic bird: penguins with 75% of their lives spend in the sea 

keenest sense of smell: kiwis 

keenest sense of hearing: barn owl 

keenest eyesight: diurnal raptors with 1 million cones per sq. mm in the retinal fovea

best light-gathering capacity at night: owls, e.g., tawny owl

greatest G-force (acceleration due to gravity): beak of red-headed woodpecker hitting bark at 20.9 km/h (13 mph)

highest daily frequency of pecking: 12,000 times by black woodpecker

most intelligent bird: African gray parrot, crows, "bait-fishing" green and striated herons

most talkative bird: African gray parrot with a vocabulary of 800 words

birds that use echolocation: cave swiftlets and oilbirds 

*largest recorded nesting bird colony: 136 million passenger pigeon nesting in an area in Wisconsin covering 1,942 sq km (750 sq mi)*

*most abundant bird: red-billed quelea at up to 10 billion*

fastest running bird: ostrich at 97.5 km/h (60 mph)

fastest running flying bird: greater roadrunner at 42 km/h (26 mph)

fastest underwater swimming bird: gentoo penguin at 36 km/h (22.3 mph)

deepest dive for non-flying bird: emperor penguin at 540 m (1,772 ft) 

deepest dive for a flying bird: thick-billed murre at 2 10 m (689 ft) 

deepest dive for a flying bird under 210 g: Peruvian diving petrel at 83 m (272 ft)

longest submerged: emperor penguin at 18 minutes

greatest weight-carrying capacity: bald eagle lifting a 6.8 kg (15 lb) mule deer

greatest hibernator: poorwill with body temperature lowered to 18-20 degrees C (64.4-68 degrees F)

greatest bird mimic: marsh warbler with up to 84 songs


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

most songs Sung per unit time. 22,197 in 10 hours by a red-eyed vireo

coldest temperature regularly endured by a bird: average temperatures of -45.6 degrees C (-50 degrees F) for emperor penguins 

*coldest temperature endured by a bird: -62.5 degrees C (-80.5 degrees F) by snowy owl*

*coldest temperature of land where a bird has been recorded: -89.6 degrees C (-129 degrees F) in Vostok, Russia for south polar skua*

warmest temperature regularly endured by a bird: larks and wheatears at 44-45 degrees C (111-113 degrees F)

lowest altitude for nesting: little green beeeater at 400 m (1,307 ft) below sea-level in the Dead Sea 

longest fasting period: 134 days for incubating male emperor penguins 

most northerly nesting bird: ivory gull at edge of pack ice in Arctic Circle

largest ground nest: dusky scrubfowl nest at 11 m (36 ft) wide and 4.9 m (16 ft) high with over 2,700 kg (300 tons) of forest floor litter

*largest tree nest: bald eagle in Florida at 6.1 m (20 ft) deep, 2.9 m (9.5 ft) wide, and weighing 2,722 kg (almost 3 tons)*

largest social nest: African social weavers with a 100-chamber nest structure 8.2 m (27 ft) in length and 1.8 m (6 ft) high

largest roofed nest: hamerkop at 2 m (6.5 ft) wide and 2 m (6.5 ft) deep

longest nest burrow: rhinoceros auklet at 8 m (26 ft)

highest tree nest: marbled murrelet at 45 m (148 ft)

smallest nest: Cuban bee and Vervain hummingbirds at 1.98 cm (0.78 in) in breadth and 1.98 - 3.0 cm (0.78 - 1.2 in) deep

foulest smelling nest: Eurasian hoopoe

greatest number of sperm storage tubules: turkey at 20,000

greatest longevity of sperm inside a female: turkey at 42 days

largest egg: ostrich measuring 17.8 by 14 cm (7 by 4.5 in)

largest egg laid by a passerine: 5 7 g (2 oz) by Australian lyrebirds 

largest egg laid relative to body weight: little spotted kiwi at 26% 

smallest egg laid relative to body weight: ostrich egg at 1.5%

smallest egg: West Indian vervain humming bird at 10 mm (0.39 in) in length and 0.375 g (0.0132 oz)

largest collection of bird skins: British Museum of Natural History with 1.25 million

most valuable bird: 8 billion domestic chickens produce 562 billion eggs annually

most valuable nest: gray-rumped swiftlet for bird's nest soup

roundest eggs: owls, tinamous

longest interval between eggs laid: maleo at 1012 day intervals

largest clutch laid by a nidicolous species: 19 eggs laid by a European blue tit

largest clutch laid by a nidifugous species: 28 by a bobwhite quail 

largest average clutch size: 15-19 by a gray partridge

smallest clutch size: 1 egg laid every 2 years by albatrosses

greatest number of eggs laid consecutively: 146 by a mallard

longest uninterrupted incubation period: emperor penguin at 64-67 days

longest interrupted incubation period: wandering albatross and brown kiwi at 85 days

longest incubation period by a passerine species: 50 days for Australian lyrebird 

shortest incubation period: 11 days by small passerines

longest fledging period of flying birds: wandering albatross at 278 days 

*greatest number of broods raised in one year: 21 by zebra finch*

pair fastest to breeding maturity: common quail at 5 weeks

slowest to breeding maturity: royal and wandering albatrosses at 6-10 years

longest-lived wild bird: royal albatross at over 58 years

longest-lived captive bird: sulfur-crested cockatoo at over 80 years 

largest domesticated bird: ostrich

earliest domesticated bird: jungle fowl at 3200 BC

heaviest domestic turkey: 37 kg (81 lb)

country with the most endangered birds: Indonesia with 126 (Brazil second with 121)

country with the highest percentage of its bird species endangered: New Zealand with 30% 

country with the most introduced species: United States (Hawaii) with 68

most recent species of bird to be declared extinct: flightless Atitlan grebe of Guatemala in 1984 

most recent North American bird to be declared extinct. dusky seaside sparrow, a race of seaside sparrow, in 1987

*rarest bird in the world: ivory-billed woodpecker, Jerdon's courser* 

*highest price paid for a bird book: $3.96 million (U.S.) for a set of John James Audubon's The Birds of America in 1989*

highest price paid for a mounted bird: 9,000 British pounds for an extinct great auk by the Natural History Museum of Iceland on 1971 

*highest price paid for a live bird. 41,000 British pounds for a racing pigeon named Peter Pau in 1986*

highest price paid for a cage bird. 5,000 British pounds for a hyacinth macaw

highest price paid for an egg: 1,000 British pounds for an egg of extinct Aepyornis maximus

first bird featured on a U.S. postage stamp: bald eagle 

Bird Records
Taken from The Bird Almanac
by David M. Bird, PhD"

Note: I highlighted the ivory-billed woodpecker part, because one of the members of my racing club is a wildlife artist, who also is retired from being the former Director of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural history. He has had pigeons for approximately 50 years and is an expert on genetics and such. He wins a lot of races and has some very unusual colored birds also.

He does some beautiful wildlife paintings during the fall and spring, usually out west. But during the summer months, he participates in a team of researchers that go to a certain location in Florida to search for and document the ivory-billed woodpecker. They state that they have seen one or two in the last couple of years, but were unable to get a photo of them, as they are fleeting sightings. His dream and hope is to photograph one in the wild, in Florida.

He is a special person in my book. He is my mentor in this game of racing pigeons.


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

Wonderful tidbits of information and it will take me awhile to read all of this---you have too much time on your hands---check the foal again---(CoCo)....c.hert


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

He He. CoCo is doing great.

Yep. A lot of time on my hands. It is raining to beat the band and I have nothing to do today except fix our bedroom ceiling fan, which for some reason quit. It is only a year old. Dang thing.

Oh yea. And to check on CoCo a zillion times. Her and momma are in the horse barn. Daddy is out in the rain and does not like being away from momma.


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

Sounds just wonderful and it is raining here and going to snow tomorrow---ugh---so I know what you mean--it gets so dreary when it is cold as well and cloud covered. I believe the storm left this area down further south and went to Kansas and Oklahoma and caused a whole bunch of tornadoes and when I hear that I feel bad for those people and the pigeons as well and some parts are out of electricity as well. But our main storm is coming tomorrow and they expect a lot of tree breaks and I sure hope my one tree does okay and I will have to go out there and knock the wet snow off the branches as high as I can go and I will get my ladder (short ladder) and do the best I can if it should come to that...Making bean soup right now to get ready for the weather...c.hert


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## Frank-NC (Jan 26, 2010)

wow great read and information , thx for posting =)


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## M Kurps (Mar 19, 2009)

How could a bird fly for three years without landing? 
Kurps


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Wow...that was fun.


An 81 Pound Turkey??? That's one BIG Boy there..! Yipes!


I know the Birds here, in Town, edge of Town, various Species...they abide Temperatures of 114 - 118 in Town...118 - 124 edge of Town, routinely during parts of the Summer.


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## sreeshs (Aug 16, 2009)

M Kurps said:


> How could a bird fly for three years without landing?
> Kurps


It eats, drinks, sleeps and mates when flying 

http://www.commonswift.org/FAQ_english.html

ConditionFreak - Thanks a lot for the post. Great general knowledge about the bird kingdom


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## M Kurps (Mar 19, 2009)

sreeshs said:


> It eats, drinks, sleeps and mates when flying
> 
> http://www.commonswift.org/FAQ_english.html
> 
> ConditionFreak - Thanks a lot for the post. Great general knowledge about the bird kingdom


Holy crap you answers my question,never heard that one before,Thanks Sreeshs 
Kurps


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## yanta61 (May 4, 2010)

conditionfreak said:


> The diving peregrine falcon at 117 mph.


the have clocked the peregrine at well over 200 mph but that only in a dive....


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## ND Cooper (Mar 4, 2008)

Sorry, but I only pay attention to what's happening around my peticular area.
Facts are facts, it's true, But only for certain circumstances, and certain areas, Day/Night times... 
A good rule to go by is: What happens in your area, is Really What's Going on Around You, and Your Pigeons! 
Take Precautions, and Make Do! Change What You Can (For the Better), or live with whatever happens.
Sometimes (more then not) there is a choice.


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

yanta61 said:


> the have clocked the peregrine at well over 200 mph but that only in a dive....


I beleive it was something like 250+ MPH but the falcon was dropped out of an airplane.


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## ND Cooper (Mar 4, 2008)

Was it the Space Shuttle?


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

M Kurps said:


> How could a bird fly for three years without landing?
> Kurps


I can accept that a bird basically lives "on the wing" much more than I can accept "how do they know this"?

Do they use a tracking device attached to the bird? Do they somehow video a bird for three years? Do they just assume all of this because they watched some birds over a full day?

How could they possibly know over that long a period of time?


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## nebli (Jul 28, 2004)

can't agree with the number produced there 
for example peregrine falcons have been mesured at speed over 200mph
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk
the ostrich has been medsured at 45mph and not 60
the fastest bird in horizontal flight is a spin tailed swift around 106http://www.thetravelalmanac.com/lists/birds-speed.htm


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

With a nice wind I think I've seen my pigeons surpass 100 MPH, they're like bullets in the sky. Anyone can install a GPS capsule to know the speed of the level flight. But I don't think racing pigeons are the fastest pigeon, the smaller breeds might be even faster in short sprints. If I ever get the equipment I can record their speeds. I won't be surprised by a number like 110MPH though.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Those kinds of info are generalizations from typicaally very small samplings of data, with nothing to qualify the data...


Pretty close to useless.


I have seen Morning Doves here apprearing relaxed and easy, parallel pacing cars on the freeway. 

Probably the 'lists' would not credit them with much more than half that.


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## mercedes15 (Nov 24, 2021)

That's all very interesting, but it's true, Racing Pigeons are the fastest at Level flight. 
I don't need to prove it I know it for a fact.


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