Vol. L]
19113
J
COOKE,
$pe•OfBin•Flight.
SPEED
COMPILED
OF BIRD
BY
MAY
309
FLIGHT.
THACHER
COOKE,
DEFINrrE recordsof the speedof bird flight are sometimeshard
to find. Quite a few suchrecordsexist; but they are scattered,
manyin publications
not readilyaccessible.In orderto facilitate
furthers•udyof thisinteresting
subjectit seems
desirable
to
bring togethertheserecordsfor North Americanspecies,where
they will be readilyavailable.
Scatteredthroughsportsman's
magazinesare many so-called
recordsof the speedof game birds, most of which are estimates
basedon calculationsthat were at best largely guesswork. In
recent years, however,the air-speedindicator and automobile
speedometerhave given meansby which individualsof many
specieshave been definitelytimed. Also studieshave beenmade
of birds flying acrossmeasureddistances,timed by stop watches
and theodolites. These are furnishinga fairly definite understandingof the rate at whichbirdsof differentkindsfly, and in
generalthe speeds
sodeterminedare muchlowerthan wasformerly
supposed.
Some of the smaller Passeres have been found to make less than
20 milesper hourin ordinaryflight, andrecordsof ducksand geese
averagedlittle over 40 miles per hour. At the other extremeis
the hunting Peregrine. Portal, an experienced
falconer,estimates
this bird'saveragemaximumspeedof level flight throughstill air
as 62 milesper hour, and somehave estimatedthat it strikesits
prey at 150milesperhour. McLean timeda Duck Hawk hunting
over a 400-yardfieldin California,whoseaveragespeedwas over
165milesperhourandwhosegreatestspeed
was180milesperhour.
Extremeas thesespeedsseem,they arepossiblyexceeded
by some
of the Swifts.
Ten yearsagoCol. RichardMeinertzhagen
published'in'The •
Ibis' a very comprehensive
article in which he collectedand ana-
lyzed the availableinformationon this subject. He reported,as
the experience
of aviators,that geesecan acceleratevery little,
but that duckswhenpressedcan speedup to about 60 milesper
310
COOKE,
Speed
ofBirdFlight.
[Auk
[JLGy
hour. He concludedthat birds have two speeds,"a normal rate
which is used for every-daypurposesand also in migration,and
an aeeeleratedspeedwhieh in someeasesnearlydoublesthe rate
of their normal speed." This acceleratedspeed,however,cannot
be maintainedfor any length of time.
Several reeent articles on the meehanies or aeronauties of bird
flight are not ineluded in the following annotated bibliography
whieh shows the soutees and nature of the material summarized
in the appendedtable.
BASSETT,FRANK N.
1921. The Speedof a Flying Dove. Condor,vol. 23, p. 190-191.
[BRUETTE,WILLIAM].
1917. Birds and Aviators. Forest & Stream, vol. 87, p. 603. (Ducks
average65• milesper hour when flying upwards;69 milesper
hour when flying horizontally [air speed?].)
CLARKE••r. EAGLE.
1912. Studiesin Bird Migration. London,Gurney & Jackson,2 vols.
8vo. II. p. 29. (Recordsof skylark and starling.)
CLAYTON,H. HELM.
1897. The Velocity of a Flight of Ducks obtained by Triangulation.
Science,New Series,vol. 5, p. 26. (The Height and Velocity
of the Flight of a Flock of Geesemigratingnorthward. Ibid.
p. 585-586. Measured by theodolites.)
GLADSTONE,
HuGa S.
1922. Record Bags and Shooting Records. London, H. F. & G.
Witherby, 240 pp., 8vo. (Chapter, "The Speedof Birds," p.
173-197, quotes many published records and discussesthe
effectof wind on speedof flight.)
GRINNELL,GEORGEBIRD.
1881. Flight of Birds. Forest & Stream, vol. 17, p. 247. (Data for
pigeons.)
1901. American Duck Shooting. New York, Forest & Stream Pub~
lishing Co., 623 pp., 8vo. p. 509-510. (A flock of Pintails flew
somedistanceparallel to a train going52 miles per hour.)
1903. Timing the Flight of Birds. Forest & Stream, vol. 41, p. 375.
(Data for pigeons,pintail, and starlings.)
HARRISSON,T. H.
1931. On the Normal Flight Speed of Birds. British Birds, vol. 25,
p. 86-96. (Speedscarefully timed by auto or motorcycle
speedometer. Data for 36 species. Bibliography.)
HA'ireS,SAMUELP., JR.
1020. Speedof a Flying Hummingbird. The Auk, vol. 46, p. 116.
COOKE,
Brd
311
HOLLAND,i•Y P.
1924• HOWFast Can a Quail Fly? OutdoorLife, vol. 53, p. 70. (Aviators say that at 65 miles per hour they can overtakethe
fastestducks.)
How Fast Can a Quaff Fly? Ibid., p. 151. (Timed with stopwatch from time bird flusheduntil secondbarrel was fired;
estimatedabout 48 milesper hour.)
JONES,Lr•ros.
1927. lqighwayMortality and Speedof Flight. Wilson Bulletin, vol.
39, p. 8-10. (Long-billedCurlew and flock of gulls timed by
auto.)
LONGS•I•EE?,R. J.
1930. Noteson Sp•d of Flight of CertainWater Birds. The Auk, vol.
47, p. 428-429. (Twelvespecies
timedby auto speedometer.)
MARTIN, EDWARDT.
1916. The Speedof Ducks. Forest& Stream,vol. 86, p. 1147. (Diving
ducksfasterthan puddleducks;teal not sofast as Canvasback
and Scaup.)
McLEAN, I). I).
1930. The Speedof Flight in Certain Birds. The Gull, vol. 12, no. 3.
(Discusses
the speedof 13 species
timedby autospeedometer.)
MEINERTZHAGEN,
RICHARD.
1921. Somepreliminaryremarkson the Velocity of Migratory Flight
amongBirds, with specialreferenceto the PalaearcticRegion.
Ibis,p. 228-238. Reprintedin Smithson]an
Reportfor 1921,
p. 365-372.
subject.)
(The most comprehensivediscussionof the
MUNSON,EDWARDL.
1930. Timing the Ducks. Field & Stream, vol. 35, p. 18-20, 70.
(Tests made by airplane, chasingducks;i.e. gives the maximum speedof whichthe birdswerecapable;five species.)
[MuRPHY,WILLIAM W.]
1905. How Fast do Birds Fly? Forest & Stream, vol. 65, p. 330.
(Engineerof fast train has raced birds flying parallel to or
Pm•z•s,
aheadof his engine;five species.)
JOHNC.
1922. A Natural Historyof the Ducks. Vol. I, p. 22-23. (Somediving
ducks faster near ground than Mallard-like species. Extra
speedof teal moreapparentthan real. 40-50 milesper hour,
commonspeedin migration; 55-60 milesper hour possibleby
somespecies.)
POR•, C. F. A.
1922. The Speedof Birds. Field (London),vol. 139,p. 233-4. (Speed
is partly individual, one partridgeof a coveywas seento fly
15 per cent fasterthan the otherswhenall wereat full speed.
Author, an experiencedfalconer, gives average maximum
speedof levelflight throughstill air of seventeenspecies.)
312
COOKE,
Speed
ofBirdFlight.
Auk
[July
E. P. R.
1913. How Fast Do Ducks Fly? Forest & Stream, vol. 80, p. 41.
(Conductorsaid train often raced ducksand at 50 milesper
hour the train usually won.)
RADCLIFFE,C. r.
1922. The Speedof Birds. Field (London),vol. 139, p. 234. (The
heaviestbird of a giventype is the fastestwhenit getsgoing.
Quickerflushand riseof smallerbird deceptive. No bird can
beat a PeregrineFalcon.)
RITTER, C. B.
1910. Speedof Birds and Animals. AmericanField, vol. 73, p. 200.
(Observationsof a locomotiveengineer.)
ROBINSON,•I. W.
1922. What is the FastestBird? Field (London),vol. 139, p. 138.
(ConsidersMerganser going down wind one of the fastest of
all birds.)
WETMORE,ALEXANDER.
1916. The Speedof Flight of CertainBirds. Condor,vol. 18, p. 112113. (Sevenspeciestimed by auto speedometer.)
WHITE, FRANCISBEACH.
1927. Birds and Motor Cars. The Auk, vol. 44, p. 265-266.
1929. Birds and Motor Cars. The Auk, vol. 46, p. 399. (Speedsof
thirteen speciesof Passeres.)
WOOD. HAROLD B.
1923. The Speedof Flight of Birds. BirdsLore,vol. 25, p. 121. (Recordsof eightspecies
timedby auto speedometer.)
314
CookE, Speedof Bird Flight.
'-0
Auk
July
VoL L•
19aa
J
0oor,•,,•peed
ofBirdFli•hi.
315
316
Coo•,Speed
ofBird
Flight.
Auk
[j•ly