Overachiever birds that broke world records: Longest toes, loudest call, fastest
With roughly 10,000 bird species worldwide, according to some estimates, here's a look at five that have achieved record-breaking feats.
Longest bird toes
According to Audubon Magazine, the Northern Jacana, a marsh bird about the size of an American Robin, has the longest toes of any bird, relative to body size, with appendages about the size of human fingers. The jacana , which habitats mostly in the tropics and occasionally Texas, has four nearly three-inch long toes to help them walk on water through balancing on floating plants and lily pads, Audubon reported.
Loudest bird call
The white bellbird has the loudest bird call ever documented, according to a paper published in 2019 in the journal Current Biology and Guinness World Records. Native to the rainforest of the Guianas, Venezuela and northern Brazil, the mating call of a male bellbird averages out at a peak of around 125 decibels, beating out rock concerts, chainsaws, and beyond the level “considered safe for human ears,” Guinness World Records wrote.
More: When do bird and bat deaths from wind turbines peak? Fatalities studied to reduce harm
Longest non-stop migration by a bird
In 2022, a juvenile bar-tailed godwit broke the record for the longest non-stop migration by a bird, according to Guinness World Records. The bird known as B6 flew 8,435 miles from Alaska to the Australian state of Tasmania without stopping for food or rest, according to U.S. Geological Survey.
The journey, studied by a team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Max Planck Institute, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, started in October and continued for 11 days and one hour.
Longest time to learn to fly
Wandering Albatross chicks take more than nine months to make their first flight, according to Guinness World Records. That’s more than an average of 280 days, compared to the weeks it takes some other species. Because it takes so long for the young albatross to achieve this, adults breed only once every two years.
More: America's 10 best national parks for birding and an interactive map for summer bird-watching
According to Audubon Magazine, Wandering Albatross can fly for up to five years straight without touching land.
Fastest diving bird
The peregrine falcon is the fastest diving bird ever recorded, with speeds clocked at up to 240 mph, according to Guinness World Records.