Birds in flight and accurately clocking their speed

[Andrew Hobbs <>]

On 18/09/2011 9:14 AM, Donald G. Kimball wrote:
> I remember fondly my trip off to film Scarlet-chested Parrots in South Aus
> in 2009.  On the trip out to the desert along a dirt road I flushed a group
> of Galahs which flew parrallel with my Nissan Patrol and then up and over
> the road in front of me and out of sight.  If I remember correctly I was
> doing about 80 KM per hour.  In that case the Galahs would have had to have
> been traveling a bit faster.  Does this seem realistic?  Has anyone clocked
> Galahs or other parrots for that matter flying parrallel with their vehicle
> or by any other means?
There are a number of references on the internet (Wikipedia etc) and in 
a few reference books which indicate Galahs have been clocked at 70 
km/hr or more. I have seen a few galahs easily outflying and 
outmanouvring a Hobby.  Plus their wing shape is typical of high speed 
fliers so I would not be surprised at your estimate.
>   Just curious here.  What if any species do you have
> information on?
The fastest speed clocked for powered horizontal flight is supposed to 
be 170 km/hr for the White-throated Needletail.  Plus of course there 
are the records for long distance migration.  One Bar-tailed Godwit was 
tracked flying at an average speed of over 60 km/hr non stop for 11600 
km (8 days).  So having a Galah doing 80 for a short distance shouldn't 
be too surprising.
Andrew
> Also when I was watching Princess Parrots in the Gibson flying from one
> Casuarina to another (you can see this on my DVD series) it seemed that they
> also were super fast and looked to be going about 100 KM per hour.  I would
> have to come back and measure the distance between the two trees which would
> be quite an undertaking.  But I sure am curious how fast they were going.
>
> Thanks as always!
>
> Don
>
> http://polytelismedia.wordpress.com/2008/09/
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