Tyler, which of these (if you can reproduce them without too much effort)
have well-documented sources? Some appear to be speculative -- first
domesticated, rarest -- and others to be of dubious accuracy (eagle carrying
a 15-pound mule deer). I imagine that several of them are wrong, but it
*would* be interesting to know which are real.

JMc

Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net
Redmond, WA


-----Original Message-----
From: DidjKid at aol.com [mailto:DidjKid at aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2002 11:25 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: More Bird World Records (Long . . .)


Tweeters -

Here's a (LONG) list of some other bird world records (some of
which are outdated) that I found online. Some are funny, some are weird,
and some are just plain impressive . . . enjoy:
heaviest and tallest bird: ostrich at maximum 156 kg (345 lb) and 2.7 m (9
ft)
heaviest flying birth: great bustard at maximum 21 kg (46.3 lb)
largest extinct bird: Dromornis stirtoni of Australia at 454 kg (1,000 lb)
and 3 m (10 ft)
tallest extinct bird: giant moa of New Zealand at 3.7 m (12 ft)
greatest wingspan: wandering albatross at up to 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)
greatest wingspan of landbirds: Andean condor and marabou stork tied at
3.2 m (10.5 ft)
smallest bird: bee hummingbird at 5.7 cm (2.24 in) and 1.6 g (0.056 oz)
smallest flightless bird: inaccessible island rail at 12.5 cm (5 in) and
34.7 g (1.2 oz)
longest legs: ostrich longest legs relative to body length: black-winged
stilt at 23 cm (9 in), or 60% of its height
absolute shortest legs: virtually non-existent in swifts (Apodidae)
longest toes relative to body length: northern jacana at 10 cm (4 in)
longest bill relative to body length: swordtailed hummingbird at 10.5 cm
(4.13 in)
absolute longest bill: Australian pelican at 47 cm (18.5 in)
fastest-moving bird: diving peregrine falcon at 188 km/h (117 mph)
*another source said one bird was clocked at 200 mph!
fastest flapping flight. white-throated needle-tailed swift at 170 km/h
(106 mph)
fastest level-flight. red-breasted merganser at 161 km/h (100 mph)
absolute shortest bill: glossy swiftlet at just a few mm
largest and fleshiest tongue: flamingo
longest tongue relative to body size: wryneck at two-thirds of its body
length excluding the tail
smallest hearts relative to body size: Central and South American tinamous
at 1.6-3. 1 % of body weight
longest feathers: onagadori, a domestic strain of red jungle fowl, at
10.59 m (34.75 ft)
longest tailfeathers: crested argus pheasant at 173 cm (5.7 ft)
longest tail coverts: Indian and green peafowl at 160 cm (5.24 ft)
widest tail feathers: crested argus pheasant at 13 cm (5.1 in)
longest tail feathers relative to body length: fork-tailed flycatcher at
27 cm (10.75 in)
longest primary feathers relative to body length: permant-winged nightjar
at 60 cm (2 fit)
shortest tails: virtually non-existent in kiwis, emus, rheas, cassowaries
greatest number of feathers: whistling swan at 25,216
lowest number of feathers: ruby-throated hummingbird at 940
most secondary flight feathers: wandering and royal albatrosses with 40
secondaries and 11 primaries on each wing
largest eyeball: ostrich with a diameter of 5 cm (2 in)
fastest-moving racing pigeon: 177 km/h (110 mph)
slowest-flying bird: American woodcock at 8 km/h (5 mph)
fastest wingbeat: hummingbirds, e.g., amethyst woodstar and horned sungem,
at 90/sec
slowest wingbeat: vultures at 1/sec
longest soaring bird: albatrosses and condors
smallest soaring bird: swift
highest flying bird: Ruppell's griffon vulture at 11,274 in (7 mi) * one
source said a Ruppell's flew into a jet plane at 37,000 ft.!
most aerial bird: sooty terns at 3 to 10 years without landing
most aerial landbird: common swift at 3 years without landing
longest two-way migration: Arctic tern at 40,200 km (25,000 miles)
longest migration (assuming a coastal route): common tern at 26,000 km (
16,210 miles) in January 1997
most aquatic bird: penguins with 75% of their lives spend in the sea
keenest sense of smell: kiwis
keenest sense of hearing: barn owl
keenest eyesight: diurnal raptors with 1 million cones per sq. mm in the
retinal fovea
best light-gathering capacity at night: owls, e.g., tawny owl
greatest G-force (acceleration due to gravity): beak of red-headed
woodpecker hitting bark at 20.9 km/h (13 mph)
highest daily frequency of pecking: 12,000 times by black woodpecker
most intelligent bird: African gray parrot, crows, "bait-fishing" green
and striated herons
most talkative bird: African gray parrot with a vocabulary of 800 words
birds that use echolocation: cave swiftlets and oilbirds
largest recorded nesting bird colony: 136 million passenger pigeon nesting
in an area in Wisconsin covering 1,942 sq km (750 sq mi)
most abundant bird: red-billed quelea at up to 10 billion
fastest running bird: ostrich at 97.5 km/h (60 mph)
fastest running flying bird: greater roadrunner at 42 km/h (26 mph)
fastest underwater swimming bird: gentoo penguin at 36 km/h (22.3 mph)
deepest dive for non-flying bird: emperor penguin at 540 m (1,772 ft)
deepest dive for a flying bird: thick-billed murre at 2 10 m (689 ft)
deepest dive for a flying bird under 210 g: Peruvian diving petrel at 83 m
(272 ft)
longest submerged: emperor penguin at 18 minutes
greatest weight-carrying capacity: bald eagle lifting a 6.8 kg (15 lb)
mule deer
greatest hibernator: poorwill with body temperature lowered to 18-20
degrees C (64.4-68 degrees F)
greatest bird mimic: marsh warbler with up to 84 songs
most songs Sung per unit time. 22,197 in 10 hours by a red-eyed vireo
coldest temperature regularly endured by a bird: average temperatures
of -45.6 degrees C (-50 degrees F) for emperor penguins
coldest temperature endured by a bird: -62.5 degrees C (-80.5 degrees F)
by snowy owl
coldest temperature of land where a bird has been recorded: -89.6 degrees
C (-129 degrees F) in Vostok, Russia for south polar skua
warmest temperature regularly endured by a bird: larks and wheatears at
44-45 degrees C (111-113 degrees F)
lowest altitude for nesting: little green beeeater at 400 m (1,307 ft)
below sea-level in
the Dead Sea
longest fasting period: 134 days for incubating male emperor penguins
most northerly nesting bird: ivory gull at edge of pack ice in Arctic
Circle
largest ground nest: dusky scrubfowl nest at 11 m (36 ft) wide and 4.9 m
(16 ft) high
with over 2,700 kg (300 tons) of forest floor litter
largest tree nest: bald eagle in Florida at 6.1 m (20 ft) deep, 2.9 m (9.5
ft) wide, and
weighing 2,722 kg (almost 3 tons)
largest social nest: African social weavers with a 100-chamber nest
structure 8.2 m
(27 ft) in length and 1.8 m (6 ft) high
largest roofed nest: hamerkop at 2 m (6.5 ft) wide and 2 m (6.5 ft) deep
longest nest burrow: rhinoceros auklet at 8 m (26 ft)
highest tree nest: marbled murrelet at 45 m (148 ft)
smallest nest: Cuban bee and Vervain hummingbirds at 1.98 cm (0.78 in) in
breadth and 1.98 - 3.0 cm (0.78 - 1.2 in) deep
foulest smelling nest: Eurasian hoopoe
greatest number of sperm storage tubules: turkey at 20,000
greatest longevity of sperm inside a female: turkey at 42 days
largest egg: ostrich measuring 17.8 by 14 cm (7 by 4.5 in)
largest egg laid by a passerine: 5 7 g (2 oz) by Australian lyrebirds
largest egg laid relative to body weight: little spotted kiwi at 26%
smallest egg laid relative to body weight: ostrich egg at 1.5%
smallest egg: West Indian vervain humming bird at 10 mm (0.39 in) in
length and 0.375 g (0.0132 oz)
largest collection of bird skins: British Museum of Natural History with
1.25 million
most valuable bird: 8 billion domestic chickens produce 562 billion eggs
annually
most valuable nest: gray-rumped swiftlet for bird's nest soup
roundest eggs: owls, tinamous
longest interval between eggs laid: maleo at 1012 day intervals
largest clutch laid by a nidicolous species: 19 eggs laid by a European
blue tit
largest clutch laid by a nidifugous species: 28 by a bobwhite quail
largest average clutch size: 15-19 by a gray partridge
smallest clutch size: 1 egg laid every 2 years by albatrosses
greatest number of eggs laid consecutively: 146 by a mallard
longest uninterrupted incubation period: emperor penguin at 64-67 days
longest interrupted incubation period: wandering albatross and brown kiwi
at 85 days
longest incubation period by a passerine species: 50 days for Australian
lyrebird
shortest incubation period: 11 days by small passerines
longest fledging period of flying birds: wandering albatross at 278 days
greatest number of broods raised in one year: 21 by zebra finch
pair fastest to breeding maturity: common quail at 5 weeks
slowest to breeding maturity: royal and wandering albatrosses at 6-10
years
longest-lived wild bird: royal albatross at over 58 years
longest-lived captive bird: sulfur-crested cockatoo at over 80 years
largest domesticated bird: ostrich
earliest domesticated bird: jungle fowl at 3200 BC
heaviest domestic turkey: 37 kg (81 lb)
country with the most endangered birds: Indonesia with 126 (Brazil second
with 121)
country with the highest percentage of its bird species endangered: New
Zealand with 30%
country with the most introduced species: United States (Hawaii) with 68
most recent species of bird to be declared extinct: flightless Atitlan
grebe of Guatemala in 1984
most recent North American bird to be declared extinct. dusky seaside
sparrow, a race of seaside sparrow, in 1987
rarest bird in the world: ivory-billed woodpecker, Jerdon's courser
highest price paid for a bird book: $3.96 million (U.S.) for a set of John
James Audubon's The Birds of America in 1989
highest price paid for a mounted bird: 9,000 British pounds for an extinct
great auk by the Natural History Museum of Iceland on 1971
highest price paid for a live bird. 41,000 British pounds for a racing
pigeon named Peter Pau in 1986
highest price paid for a cage bird. 5,000 British pounds for a hyacinth
macaw
highest price paid for an eggs: 1,000 British pounds for an egg of extinct
Aepyornis maximus
first bird featured on a U.S. postage stamp: bald eagle

Tyler Davis, 17
Mercer Island, WA
didjkid at aol.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20020901/434fc82f/attachment.htm