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FastestThings

Birds

Northern goshawk

Alerstam's 1987 radar note puts the goshawk stoop close to 30 m/s. The wording is an approximation, so the qualifier is estimated.

Also known as Accipiter gentilis
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Top speed

Published as 30 m/sPublished as 30 m/sPublished as 30 m/s

Stoop described as close to 30 m/s in Alerstam 1987. The paper does not publish a sharper radar maximum for this species.

EstimatedIbis (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 2.9× Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • 1.0× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 3.0 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

This list

Why it's so fast

A bird's speed depends on which kind of flight was measured. A stoop, a glide and level flapping are different jobs, and this list does not pretend they are one number.

  1. The wing is a compromise

    A wing that makes lift easily is often a wing that makes drag. Birds that dash, soar or dive are shaped for one of those jobs more than the others.

  2. Read the conditions

    Radar of a stoop, a GPS glide and a flapping mean will not agree, because the bird was not doing the same thing. The ranked figure is the one the entry names.

The dive people mean is usually the peregrine falcon.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 108km/h67.1mph30m/s58.3knRanked figure

    Stoop described as close to 30 m/s in Alerstam 1987. The paper does not publish a sharper radar maximum for this species.

    Estimated
    Ibis (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Species
Accipiter gentilis
Quantity
Stoop, described as close to 30 m/s

Head to head

Compare Northern goshawk

Open the speed race

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Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.