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The Prophet and The Eagle: Difference between revisions
→What science says
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==What science says== | ==What science says== | ||
One of the most impressive altitude records for birds is that of a flock of Whooper Swans which was seen on radar arriving over Northern Ireland on migration and was visually identified by an airline pilot at 29,000 feet.<ref>[http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/How_Fast.html Stanford University]</ref>. The Bar-headed Goose is one of the world's highest-flying birds, having been heard flying across Mount Makalu – the fifth highest mountain on earth at 8,481 m (27,825 ft) – and apparently seen over Mount Everest – 8,848 m (29,029 ft).<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-headed_Goose Wikipedia - Bar-headed Goose</ref> | |||
But the world record for high altitude flying by a bird is... <drum roll>... a Ruppell’s vulture (gyps rueppellii) which collided with a commercial aircraft over Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at an altitude of 37,900 feet in November 1973. The impact damaged one of the aircraft’s engines, but the plane landed safely. The avian altitude record in North America is held by a mallard, which collided with an airplane on July 9, 1963, at 21,000 feet above Elko, Nevada.<ref>[http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/birds/birds0011.html Audubon Magazine, 2000]</ref> | But '''the world record for high altitude flying by a bird''' is... <drum roll>... a Ruppell’s '''vulture''' (gyps rueppellii) which collided with a commercial aircraft over Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at an altitude of '''37,900 feet''' in November 1973. The impact damaged one of the aircraft’s engines, but the plane landed safely. The avian altitude record in North America is held by a mallard, which collided with an airplane on July 9, 1963, at 21,000 feet above Elko, Nevada.<ref>[http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/birds/birds0011.html Audubon Magazine, 2000]</ref> | ||
Eagles are not found in any of the records for highest flying birds. | Eagles are not found in any of the records for highest flying birds. | ||