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A number of animals are capable of aerial locomotion, either by powered flight or by gliding. This trait has appeared by evolution many times, without any single common ancestor. Flight has evolved at least four times in separate animals: insects, pterosaurs, birds, and bats. Gliding has evolved on many more occasions.
Bird Image Species Family Maximum height Details Rüppell's vulture: Gyps rueppellii: Accipitridae: 11,300 metres (37,100 feet). [1] [2] Vultures use their excellent eyesight to scan the landscape below from a relatively static aerial position. Instead of flying over a larger distance, they use elevation to expand their field of vision. [3]
The great white pelican rivals the kori bustard, which has even more pronounced sexual dimorphism, as the heaviest flying bird to reside in Africa (both averaging perhaps slightly heavier than the cape vulture and the wattled crane). There are a small few slightly heavier flying birds in the Eurasian portions of the range.
Vultur pratruus Emslie, 1988 (lapsus) The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus Vultur. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) and weight of 15 kg (33 lb), the Andean condor is one ...
Description. Condors are very large, broad-winged soaring birds, the Andean condor being 3 inches (7.6 centimetres) to 6 inches (15.2 centimetres) shorter (beak to tail) on average than the northern species, but heavier and larger in wingspan. [3] The Andean condor has a wingspan of 2.7–3.1 metres (8 feet 10⁄ inches – 10 feet 2 inches) [4 ...
Description. The Rüppell's vulture is a large vulture, noticeably outsizing the closely related white-backed vulture, with which they often occur in the wild. Adults are 85 to 103 cm (33 to 41 in) long, [3][6] with a wingspan of 2.26 to 2.6 m (7 ft 5 in to 8 ft 6 in), and a weight that ranges from 6.4 to 9 kg (14 to 20 lb). [3][7][8] Both ...
The Life of Birds is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 21 October 1998. A study of the evolution and habits of birds , it was the third of Attenborough's specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth .
Lesser flamingos flying in formation. When in gliding flight, the upward aerodynamic force is equal to the weight.In gliding flight, no propulsion is used; the energy to counteract the energy loss due to aerodynamic drag is either taken from the potential energy of the bird, resulting in a descending flight, or is replaced by rising air currents ("thermals"), referred to as soaring flight.