List of birds by flight speed

This is a list of the fastest flying birds in the world. A bird's velocity is necessarily variable; a hunting bird will reach much greater speeds while diving to catch prey than when flying horizontally. The bird that can achieve the greatest air speed is the peregrine falcon, able to exceed 320 km/h (200 mph) in its dives. A close relative of the common swift, the white-throated needletail ("Hirundapus caudacutus"), is commonly reported as the fastest bird in level flight with a reported top speed of 169 km/h (105 mph). This record remains unconfirmed as the measurement methods have never been published or verified. The record for fastest confirmed level flight by a bird is 111.5 km/h (69.3 mph) held by the common swift.