Question of the day

zagatoes30

zagatoes30

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Ok I will just set one on a similar subject.

Everyone knows the Peregrine Falcon as the fastest bird due to its mastery of the dive where it can reach speeds of well over 200 mph but what is believed to be the fastest bird in horizontal flight?
 
allandwf

allandwf

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Hahaha! They aren't called Swifts for nothing. (There are loads of them over the houses in Sicily at dusk.)
 
zagatoes30

zagatoes30

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20,893
allandwf said:
Hahaha! They aren't called Swifts for nothing. (There are loads of them over the houses in Sicily at dusk.)
Click to expand...

There are 3 types of birds that are contenders for this record and the Swift family is one of them. Swifts can fly at around 70 mph during their displays which include swoops, climbs and level flight. There is one of the family the White Throated Needletail that has recorded a speed of 105mph in level flight but the method of calculating the speed was never verified. So a contender but not the one I was looking for.
 
zagatoes30

zagatoes30

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JonW said:
I was thinking Swifts as well. Another I would have guessed at is a racing pigeon...
Click to expand...

And that would be a good guess, there has been a racing pigeon timed at 110mph in level flight which is the fastest ever. Almost certainly wind assisted but still the fastest recorded. In normal flight they are more like 40mph although bursts of 70-80 are not uncommon.

Over to you
 
Navcorr

Navcorr

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Who remembers Jarmila Kratochvílová?
WR is both 400M & 800M in '83
No drugs involved I'm sure - nothing to see here:

JK.jpg
 
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