How high can birds fly? The discovery was unfortunately accompanied by the death of the record holder

Today’s dinosaur descendants are so good at that. They are also great with reach, i.e. the highest possible height at which they can fly, although of course this is not universal information and everything differs from species to species. But if you are wondering which of the birds can fly at the highest heights, we have the answer for you. And we’re guessing it might make you a little nervous the next time you fly somewhere alone.

The record holder who did not survive

The record figure for the height at which the bird moved is unfortunately connected with a very unpleasant incident. On Thursday, November 29, 1973, a commercial plane collided with a griffon vulture, also called a beautiful vulture, over the Ivory Coast. Situations like this can easily happen, which is why airports employ raptor keepers who work the runways and chase away birds that could threaten airline operations. But in 1973, the collision did not take place just above the ground, but at a cruising altitude of 37,000 feet, i.e. more than 11 kilometers away.

Unfortunately, the vulture did not survive the collision, but the plane was able to land successfully, even with one damaged engine, and after an investigation, testify as to what kind of bird it really was. According to a report by the Ornithological Research Archive (SORA), five complete feathers and approximately fifteen damaged ones were found on the plane, which came from the wings, tail, neck and chest of the bird. The identification was thus not at all difficult for the experts, and the mentioned vulture was determined to be the record holder.

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We only note that although the pilots did not have to notice anything until the crash, they encountered a really large, almost 10-kilo bird that grows up to one meter in length and its wingspan ranges from 2.2 to 2.6 meters. And if you are wondering how it is possible that this vulture can move at such heights, where the air is already very thin, it is all due to a special variant of hemoglobin in its blood. According to a study published on the De Gruyter portal, hemoglobin alpha D binds very well with oxygen, which is crucial for the vulture to be able to breathe comfortably even at high altitudes.

Source: SORA, De Gruyter

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