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This is a list of soaring birds, which are birds that can maintain flight without wing flapping, using rising air currents. Many gliding birds are able to "lock" their extended wings by means of a specialized tendon. [1] Bird of prey. Buzzards; Condors; Eagles; Falcons; Harriers; Hawks; Kites; Osprey; Secretary bird; Vultures; Passerine ...
Although the term "bird of prey" could theoretically be taken to include all birds that actively hunt and eat other animals, [4] ornithologists typically use the narrower definition followed in this page, [5] excluding many piscivorous predators such as storks, cranes, herons, gulls, skuas, penguins, and kingfishers, as well as many primarily ...
[14] [19] [20] The mean wingspan is around 283 cm (9 ft 3 in) and the wings have the largest surface area of any extant bird. [20] It has a maximum wingspan of 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in). [21] Among living bird species, only the great albatrosses and the two largest species of pelican exceed the Andean condor in average and maximal wingspan. [20] [22]
However, some creatures can stay in the same spot, known as hovering, either by rapidly flapping the wings, as do hummingbirds, hoverflies, dragonflies, and some others, or carefully using thermals, as do some birds of prey. The slowest flying non-hovering bird recorded is the American woodcock, at 8 kilometres per hour (5.0 mph). [26]
Argentavis was among the largest flying birds to ever exist, holding the record for heaviest flying bird, although it was surpassed in wingspan after the 2014 description of Pelagornis sandersi, which is estimated to have possessed wings some 20% longer than those of Argentavis. [1] [2]
This defies some earlier theories that extant condors, swans, and bustards represent the size limit for flying birds. The wing loading of Argentavis was relatively low for its size, a bit more than a turkey's, [5] and if there were any significant wind present, the bird could probably get airborne merely by spreading its wings, just like modern ...
A harrier is a member of the genus Circus in Accipitridae, a family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds. The young of the species are sometimes referred to as ring-tail harriers.
The common black-hawk is a breeding bird in the warmer parts of the Americas, from the Southwestern United States through Central America to Venezuela, Peru, Trinidad, and the Lesser Antilles. It is a mainly coastal, resident bird of mangrove swamps, estuaries and adjacent dry open woodland, though there are inland populations, including a ...