How fast can finches fly

It was well past sunset, which made me think — ever so briefly — that perhaps it might be either a poorwill or a whippoorwill, as that is the time of day when these birds are active. After the bird flew across the road, it proceeded to fly parallel to the road, and I caught up with it and was driving at the same speed at which it was flying. I have had similar experiences with other species over the years in which I have attempted to clock birds in flight based on the speed I was going in my vehicle.

I have done this on several occasions with Mourning Doves. They seem to be comfortable cruising anywhere between forty and fifty miles per hour, with what appears to be very little effort.

The comment is made that there is a considerable difference between the speed at which a bird can fly and the speed at which it normally does fly. Cruising speed for most bird species is anywhere between twenty to thirty miles per hour.

However, if they are being chased, or if they are doing the chasing, they can certainly fly considerably faster. It is interesting that the size of a bird has little bearing on the speed at which it can fly.

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When migrating, however, birds often do climb to relatively great heights, possibly to avoid dehydration in the warmer air near the ground. Migrating birds in the Caribbean are mostly observed around 10, feet, although some are found half and some twice that high.

Generally long-distance migrants seem to start out at about 5, feet and then progressively climb to around 20, feet. Just like jet aircraft, the optimum cruise altitude of migrants increases as their "fuel" is used up and their weight declines.

Vultures sometimes rise over 10, feet in order to scan larger areas for food and to watch the behavior of distant vultures for clues to the location of a feast. Perhaps the most impressive altitude record is that of a flock of Whooper Swans which was seen on radar arriving over Northern Ireland on migration and was visually identified by an airline pilot at 29, feet.

Birds can fly at altitudes that would be impossible for bats, since bird lungs can extract a larger fraction of oxygen from the air than can mammal lungs. Ehrlich, David S.