Subject: High Flyer 26,000 feet +
Date: Jan 6 17:56:24 1999
From: Irene Wanner - iwanner at u.washington.edu


I saw the bird, too. It was hovering on what must have been a big updraft
and looked to be dark and...crow-like, so the chough might fill the bill.
_ Irene

On Wed, 6 Jan 1999, Christopher Hill wrote:

> On Wed, 6 Jan 1999 sanjer at televar.com wrote:
>
> > I watched a program last night about climbing Mt. Everest.The climbers
> > set up a camp at 26,000 feet and what do I see come into view--a bird
> > soaring above the climbers. I couldn't tell the size with nothing but
> > sky around it.
> >
> > Does any one have any ideas what kind of bird soars at over 26,000
> > feet.
> >
> > Jerry Converse
> > Grand Coulee, WA
>
> Alpine choughs (Coracus graculus) has been seen at 27,000 feet on Mt.
> Everest. Although there are records of birds migrating at heights up to
> nearly 20,000 feet, I've never seen any reports of another species than
> the chough at that altitude. Choughs are crow-like birds - black, about
> the same size, but with thinner, colored bills. Could you tell anything
> about the color or shape of the bird you glimpsed?
>
> Chris Hill
> Everett, WA
> cehill at u.washington.edu
>
>