In 1999, a trained peregrine named Frightful was reportedly clocked at 242 mph in a dive, as of November 2026. She was released from a plane about 17,000 feet above sea level.

Falconer Ken Franklin attached a 4-ounce skydiver's altimeter chip to her tail feathers. The chip did not read speed directly. He then measured how far she dived over a period of time.

Some ornithologists doubted the 242 mph dives because the falcon started from a higher altitude than peregrines normally dive from. A wild peregrine usually does not begin a stoop from a plane's height. So the number says what a trained falcon can do from a great height. It does not say how fast a wild falcon hunts on an ordinary day.

Still, a peregrine is built for fast air. Its pointed wings cut through the air with little drag. In a dive it tucks its feet under its body and shapes its wings like a teardrop. Structures called tubercles inside its nose slow the air through its nostrils, so the falcon can keep breathing at high speed.

Ground speed in level flight is a different contest. A peregrine's normal cruising speed is about 40 to 60 mph, much slower than its dive. As of November 2026, a common swift reached 69 mph in level flight in a Lund University study, and swifts are thought to be the fastest birds in level flight. The white-throated needletail may fly faster than 100 mph, but this has never been officially verified.

Other flyers set records too. As of November 2026, a grey-headed albatross was tracked flying at an average of 127 km/h for over 8 hours in an Antarctic storm, and strong wind helped it. Golden eagles can reach almost 200 mph when diving from great heights. A male horsefly may be the fastest flying insect, at an estimated 145 km/h.

The 2016 study of Brazilian free-tailed bats found ground speeds of about 100 mph, as of November 2026. But the median ground speed was only 5.7 meters per second, and every bat logged short bursts above 25 meters per second. Wind gusts and gravity could have affected the speeds, so some scientists advise caution with the data.

Words to know

• altitude: height above sea
• altimeter: height gauge
• tubercles: nose cones
• ornithologists: bird scientists