The
largest bird in the world today is the
Ostrich (Struthio camelus). The North African Ostrich subspecies is the tallest of all the Ostriches. Males can be 2.74 m tall. The head and neck can be 1.4 m long. The average height is around 2 m.
Ostriches also have the
longest legs. Their legs can be up to 1.3 m long. A number of
swifts have the
shortest legs. Their family name Apodidae means 'lacking legs'.
Ostriches also have the
largest eggs. The egg measures 15 - 20 cm long, 10 - 15 cm in diameter and weighs 1 - 1.78 kg.
And they are the
fastest runners. They can run up to 72 km per hour over short distances.
The
smallest bird in the world is either the
Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) from Cuba and the Isle of Pines or the
Little Woodstar (Acestrura bombus) of Ecuador and northern Peru. The male hummingbird is 57 mm and weighs 1.6 g. Half of its length is taken up by the bill and the tail. Some experts think the Woodstar is even smaller.
The bird with the
largest wingspan is the
Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) which lives in the southern oceans. Its wings average 2.54 - 3.51 m. The largest recorded wingspan was of a very old male whose wings measured 3.63 m.
The
Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) has the
longest bill of any bill measuring 34 - 47 cm.
The bird with the
longest bill to body size is the
Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) that lives in the high Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Its bill is 10.2 cm long, four times longer than the bird's body, not counting the tail.
Jacanas (Jacanidae family) have the
longest toes relative to body length. Some of the larger Jacanas can have 'toespans' of at least 15 cm.
The
longest feathers of a wild bird relative to body size, are the central tail feathers of the male
Ribbon-tailed Bird of Paradise (Asptrapia mayeri). It lives in the mountain rainforest of New Guinea.
The
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is the
fastest bird and fastest of any kind of animal. It can reach speeds of at least 200 km when diving for prey in the air.
Hummingbirds have the
fastest wingbeat. The
Horned Sungem (Heliactin cornuta), in tropical South America beats its wings at 90 beats per second. Hummingbirds, Family Trochilidae have been recorded in experiments, hovering for 50 minutes.
The
Artic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) is believed to
migrate the furthest. It flies from the shores of the Arctic to the Antarctic. One banded Arctic Tern covered 22 530 km flying from the White Sea Coast of Russia to Fremantle, Western Australia.
Relative to body size the
Long Rufous Humingbird (Selasphorus rufus) makes the longest migration. It measures 10 cm and flies from as far north as Alaska to Mexico and back again - 10 000 km.
The
highest recorded altitude for any bird was 11 277 m for a
Ruppell's Griffon Vulture (Gyps Rueppellii). It flew into a plane.
The
smallest known egg is the egg of the
Vervain Hummingbird (Mellisuga minima) of Jamacia and nearby islets. The egg is barely the size of a pea and measures less than 10 mm in length and weighs 0.356 g.
The
largest nest was built by a pair of
Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was 2.9 m wide and 6 m deep. The
Mallee Fowl (Leipoa ocellata) of Australia builds a
mound for a nest. These mounds have been measured at 4.57 m high and 10.6 m long. A mound this size means the bird moved 250 cubic metres of vegetation and 300 tonnes of soil. The
Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) which measures 35 cm and nests on islands in the North Pacific excavates a
burrow of 2 - 3 m in length. Burrows up to 6 m are not uncommon and 8 m burrows have also been found.
Emperor Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) make the
deepest dive of any bird ranging from 444 - 483 m. They also stay under water the longest. The maximum dive time recorded has been 18 minutes.
The
fastest swimmer is probably the
Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) at 27 km per hour.
The
only poisonous birds known are the three species of Pitohui from Papua new Guinea - the
Hooded Pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) the
Rusty Pitohui (P. ferrugineus) and the
Variable Pitohui (P. kirhocephalus). The Hooded Pitohui is the deadliest. The skin and feathers contain almost the same homobatrachotoxin as the Poison Arrow Frogs.
