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FastestThings

Birds · Ranked by top speed

Fastest Birds of Prey (2026)

A falcon, a hawk and an eagle. Their figures come from different kinds of flight, a stoop for two of them and a glide for the eagle, so read the conditions on each entry before comparing them.

3 rankedA source on every row
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A view of Fastest BirdsGroupBird of prey
Flight

3 raptors, ties share a rank.

  1. 1
    Peregrine falcon

    Falco peregrinus

    140km/h87.2mph39m/s75.8kn3.7× Bolt
    VerifiedIbis (opens source in a new tab)
  2. 2
    Northern goshawk

    Accipiter gentilis

    108km/h67.1mph30m/s58.3kn2.9× Bolt
    EstimatedIbis (opens source in a new tab)
  3. 3
    Golden eagle

    Aquila chrysaetos

    65.1km/h40.4mph18.07m/s35.1kn1.7× Bolt
    VerifiedPLOS ONE (opens source in a new tab)

Top speed · sourced

Birds, by how they fly

A stoop and a flap are different feats. Compare like with like.

  • Birds · Top speed

    Sourced

    Fastest stoop dives

    Gravity-assisted stoops. Not comparable with flapping flight.

    1. 1Peregrine falcon140km/h87.2mph39m/s75.8kn
    2. 2Northern goshawk108km/h67.1mph30m/s58.3kn

    2 birds

  • Birds · Top speed

    Sourced

    Fastest level flight

    Powered, flapping flight with no help from gravity.

    1. 1Common pochard85.0km/h52.8mph23.6m/s45.9kn
    2. 2Common scoter79.6km/h49.4mph22.1m/s43.0kn
    3. 3Long-tailed duck79.2km/h49.2mph22m/s42.8kn

    13 birds

  • Birds · Top speed

    Sourced

    Fastest ducks & sea ducks

    Scoters, eiders, pochards and a merganser.

    1. 1Common pochard85.0km/h52.8mph23.6m/s45.9kn
    2. 2Common scoter79.6km/h49.4mph22.1m/s43.0kn
    3. 3Long-tailed duck79.2km/h49.2mph22m/s42.8kn

    11 ducks

Head to head

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