Some birds cannot fly, others fly very low.
Discover 6 who are not afraid of heights!
To discover
February: what vegetables and fruits are in season?
Rüppell's vulture
The adult Rüppell's vulture can have a wingspan of 2.5 m.
Ian Dyball MA / I stock.adobe.com
Originally from the Sahel, the Rüppell's vulture is a large bird of prey which belongs to the Accipitridae family.
This scavenger can travel up to 150 km to find carcasses.
Its highest flight altitude was recorded at 11,300 m!
In November 1973, one of these birds collided with an airliner over the city of Abidjan.
It is a gregarious species that lives in colonies.
It is listed as a “critically endangered” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The common crane
The common crane is a migratory bird that can be observed in France.
Michael Breuer / Ana Gram - stock.adobe.com
Coming from the gruidae family, the common crane is a species of “least concern”.
This migratory bird measures approximately 110 cm long with a wingspan ranging from 180 to 240 cm.
Gray in color, it is recognizable by its white stripe along its neck and red spot on the top of its head.
Its maximum flight altitude was recorded at more than 10,000 m, in the Himalayan range.
This height is useful for avoiding predators like eagles!
The tiger goose
Tiger or bar-headed geese, Sandip - stock.adobe.com
Tiger geese (
Anser indicus
), also called bar-headed geese, belong to the Anatidae family.
Characterized by a wingspan of 150 cm and an average weight of 2.5 kg, they originate from Central Asia.
Certain species live in Europe and notably in Germany, Sweden or the Netherlands.
Tiger geese have been observed flying at altitudes above 8800 m.
They can fly over the Himalayas during their migration.
The whooper swan
The whooper swan can be recognized by its yellow and black beak.
stock.adobe.com
The whooper swan (
Cygnus cygnus
) is a herbivorous bird that is part of the same family as the tiger geese.
Some of these birds weigh more than 14 kg.
The latter live in the northern hemisphere.
Russia, Finland and Norway are their favorite playgrounds.
Whooper swans travel thousands of kilometers during migration and can fly up to 8,200 m altitude.
It was a radar which recorded this height above Ireland.
The yellow-billed chough
The yellow-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) is a species that lives in mountains.
Rolf Mueller / stock.adobe.com
The yellow-billed chough is a passerine bird of the Corvidae family.
It is also called
“
mountain crow” or “jackdaw” by mountain people.
It is easily recognizable by its black plumage, its yellow beak (short and thin) and its red legs.
The chocard measures approximately 40 cm in length and between 70 and 85 cm in wingspan.
It weighs around 200 g.
This species generally flies at an altitude of 4000 m in the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Balkans.
Its maximum altitude has been observed at more than 8000 m above Everest.
The bearded vulture
The bearded vulture lives mainly in rocky cliff faces in high mountains in France.
Chateau nicolas / stock.adobe.com
Native to Central Asia and the Middle East, the bearded vulture (
Gypaetus barbatus
) is a vulture considered “near threatened.”
In France, it can be found in the mountains: Pyrenees, Massif central and Alps.
It can be recognized by its orange-reddish brown ventral plumage.
It has a wingspan of 3 m and a weight of between 5 and 7 kg.
The bearded vulture can fly up to 7300 m high.
Its flight is similar to that of harriers, from the Accipitridae family.
Did you know ?
The bearded vulture is the largest raptor in Europe.