The Land Massive

Life is hard for wild animals, being fraught with the perils of predation, starvation and sickness. Only the strongest manage to survive into adulthood and breed, which means that only the best genes are passed into the next generation. This is the major driving force behind evolution and is responsible for the staggering diversity of life on our little planet.

One of the most obvious adaptations that some species have is their tendency to grow to enormous sizes. This is typically a defense against predators and takes advantage of the 'ten times larger' rule. Simply put, this rule states that a terrestrial animal becomes safe from predation if it can grow ten times heavier than their largest predator, since their predators are unable to develop jaws strong enough to kill them.

Obviously, this rule is not absolute. It doesn't take mankind in account, as our technology and sentience allowed us to overcome it as cavemen, nor does it take into account predators growing larger themselves. If all of the prey species in an area begin to grow larger, this will itself drive a size increase in predators. Bigger prey means more meat per kill, which is able to fuel more muscle mass and only the largest predators will be able to make kills (so only the genes for a bigger body size will be passed down into subsequent generations).

This means that predators and prey are locked in a constant arms race where each is trying to become bigger. Over time, the size of each species will grow bigger until size becomes limited by another factor - such as the availability of food - and is therefore no longer advantageous (where upon it's selected against and a 'maximum' size of the species has been reached).

Animals have reached unbelievable sizes in the past, both in the oceans and on land. Dinosaurs are the obvious example of megafauna, with some species becoming so heavy that the ground used to tremble as they walked! Sadly, there aren't animals this impressive anymore (certainly not on land, anyway), but we do have some truly huge beasts roaming our continents. Here's a list of the top ten largest animals that are alive today (sorted by average weight):

10: Wild (Asian) water buffalo: 770kg/3.5m long (max weight: 1, 250kg)

Also called the Asian or Asiatic buffalo, the wild water buffalo, Bubalus arnee,  is endemic to Southeast Asia. As well as its obvious bulk, the bovid is famed for having the widest horn-span in its family, which can be as wide as 2m from tip-to-tip in large males.

Wild water buffaloes are gregarious and live in tight, matriarchal groups as a defense against predators. Each group is called a 'clan' and is made up from related females and their young offspring. A clan can be as large as 30 individuals and often band together with other clans to form large herds (for further defense) that can consist of more than 500 individuals!

To avoid inbreeding, young males actually leave their clan once they become sexually mature and form small 'bachelor' groups. These groups consist of about 10 males and generally spend the dry season away from females. In breeding season, the young males rejoin a herd where they are polygynous and mate with multiple females.

9: Black rhino: 1, 150kg/3.5m long (max weight: 1, 900kg)

Black rhinos have two horns on their snout, which are made from keratin - the same protein as hair and nails. Their horns can grow as much as 3 inches a year and individuals have been found with horns that are longer than five feet! Sadly, their horns have been their downfall as it is coveted for Asian herbal medicines and ornaments in the Middle East, meaning that the black rhino is now classified as 'Endangered' by the IUCN.

There are four species of black rhinos (of the genus Diceros), which are actually grey. Their skin looks darker because they frequently wallow in mud to help keep cool through the hottest parts of the African day. Their size and rotund shape means that they actually retain body heat, so black rhinos are usually inactive during the hottest hours and rest beneath shade if the cannot find shallow water. During gloaming, when it's cooler, the rhinos feed by browsing shrubs and the lower branches of trees.

8: Walrus: 1, 200kg/3.4m long (max weight: 2, 150kg)

Odobenus rosmarus - the Latin taxonomic name for the walrus - literally means "tooth-walking sea-horse". This name stems from the tendency of walrus' to drag themselves onto pack ice using their tusks for purchase. It should be noted, however, that walrus tusks are actually elongated canines. These teeth are so large that they can grow as long as 1 meter in big males!

Walrus' are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere in the Arctic Circle and some subarctic regions. Walrus' once covered most of the frigid north, but their numbers were decimated by hunting in the 19th Century and their populations are now discontinuous; being limited to certain regions. That being said, they can still be found through most areas of shallow water, where they like to dive and crawl across the bottom of the sea bed to feed off crustaceans, molluscs, amphipods and slow-moving fish.

7: Giraffe: 1, 400kg/6m tall (max weight: 2, 150kg)

There are nine distinct species of giraffe, which are classified under the genus Giraffa. Growing to heights of 5 - 6m, giraffes are the tallest living animal and have unique patterns of spots in their fur. Their spotting is very similar to human fingerprints and can used to identify an individual. Interestingly, their spots also reveal the relative age of a giraffe as they grow darker as throughout their lives.

Giraffes are herbivores and use their long necks to reach leaves that are high up in the canopies of trees. This allows them to access food that many animals are unable to get at, thus allowing them to exploit a very specific niche. Despite this being an obvious use of their long neck, many scientists are skeptical that this is why it first evolved. Their neck is simply too exaggerated for access to slightly more food to have driven its appearance and many scientists now believe that the length of their neck was initially a sexually selected trait.

During mating season, male giraffes fight for the right to mate with females. They have an interesting way of dueling called 'clubbing', where they literally use their heads as bludgeons to strike their opponent with. As explained by the mechanisms of physics, a giraffe's head will hit harder the longer its neck is. Thus, having a longer neck would have given a giraffe an advantage in battle, meaning that it is more likely to win and pass on the 'long neck' gene so becomes selected for. Being able to reach an abundance of previously unattainable food would have then acted as a secondary use of their long necks and would have helped to reinforce its selection.

6: Gaur: 1, 600kg/4m long

Gaur, Bos gaurus, are characterised by a very prominent dorsal hump and have a long dewlap that hangs from their chin. Other than mankind and tigers, their large size means that they are rarely preyed upon and their lives are relatively safe for a herbivore.

Gaur are typically diurnal, gregarious animals where the females live matriarchal herds with their close relatives and offspring. To avoid inbreeding, a young male leaves its herd once it has sexually matured and spends much of the year in solitude. During the breeding season, polygynous males rejoin herds where they compete for mates by showcasing their size and emitting loud calls. 

Interestingly, scientists have noticed that many gaur become nocturnal in areas with high levels of human activity. But whatever hours gaur keep, their behaviour remains the same and they seem to actively avoid water, going to sources only sparingly to drink. They rarely wash or wallow and spend much of their time browsing on a wide variety of shrubs, flowers and grasses. 

5: Hippopotamus: 2, 500kg/1.2m long (max weight: 3, 400kg)

The hide of the hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius, is so thick it can make as much as a half a ton in large males! Interestingly for an animal that lives in an extremely hot environment, hippos have neither sweat nor sebaceous glands. Instead, they have unique glands that secrete a viscous red fluid. This has given rise to the urban myth that hippos 'sweat blood'.

Due to their weight, which makes them cumbersome and ungainly on land, hippos spend much of their time in water where their body weight is decreased. Hippos mainly venture onto land to feed at night, where they are able to climb even very steep banks in their search for grass. Most hippo attacks on humans happen during the night, when a person accidentally walks between the hippo and water. The hippo panics and then charges, bulling over the person as it tries to get back to safety.

Hippos are actually the most dangerous animal to humans in Africa and should be avoided if ever seen in the wild. They are extremely territorial and (in addition to what was mentioned above) may attack people on shores and knock us from boats if we venture into their 'space of water'. With hugely powerful jaws that can open almost 180 degrees, hippos are reportedly able to bite animals as big as Nile crocodiles clean in half with a single bite!

4: White rhino: 2, 350kg/3.8m long (max weight: 3, 850kg)

The white rhino, Ceratotherium simum, spends large amounts of its day wallowing in the wet mud around rivers, streams and lakes. The mud acts as a natural 'sun cream' and helps to deter parasitic insects.

Unlike their cousins, black rhinos, white rhinos are grazers and have differently shaped mouths that are adapted to trimming grass off the ground. They have poor eyesight, but have excellent hearing and even better smell. Due to this, they often walk in single file so they can follow the scent trail of the rhino ahead of them.

3: Southern elephant Seal: 3, 000kg/5m long (max weight: 4, 000kg)

There are actually two types of elephant seal, but it is the southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina, that grows the largest. Surprisingly, their name does not stem from their enormous size, but rather from their inflatable trunk-like snouts!

Living in the brutal Antarctic waters, Southern elephant seals are superb divers and can go as deep as 1.5 miles, staying submerged for up to 2 hours at a time. While underwater, southern elephant seals hunt fish and squid, which form the staples of their diet. Both male and female seals spend months at sea at a time, where they migrate vast distances in search of food.

Elephant seals return to rookeries during their breeding season, where males compete with each in other in brutally violent displays for the right to mate with females. Successful males can form harems that consist of 40 - 50 females, whom they mate with exclusively!

2: Asian elephant: 4, 200kg/6m long (max weight: 5, 200kg)

Like their African cousins, the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, has an extremely long gestation period and their pregnancies last for 22 months! Although this isn't surprising really, considering newborn calves can weight as much as 90kg!

Asian elephants have been domesticated by humans over thousands of years for a variety of tasks. Most often, the elephants are used to carry or move heavy objects and as taxis, where they carry people around on saddles or carriages called howdahs. Less commonly, but perhaps more famously, the elephants have been used for combat on occasion by warlords such as Hannibal, who took the elephants over the Pyrenees and the Alps in his campaign against the Roman Empire!

1: African  elephant: 8, 500kg/6.7m long (max weight: 13, 000kg)

Although African elephants are noticeably bigger than their Asian cousins, you can also use the shape of their ears to tell them apart. Rather bizarrely, the shape of an African elephant's ear looks similar to the continent of Africa, while the shape of an Indian elephant's ear looks a bit like India! 

There are actually two types of African elephant of the genus Loxodonta: the African bush elephant and the slightly smaller African forest elephant. Both are larger than the Asian elephant and can roam huge distances in search of food. The elephants eat roots, grasses, fruit and bark, which they attain using their deceptively dextile trunk and their tusks, which they use for scraping trees and digging.

Unfortunately, as with Asian elephants, their trunks have also proved to be their downfall and they were almost hunted almost to extinction by those in the ivory trade. Since the international trading ban on ivory that was placed in 1990, elephant numbers have recovered somewhat (although illegal poaching is still a problem). It's estimated that there are now as few as 700, 000 elephants left in Africa and they are officially classified as 'threatened' by the IUCN. Sadly, less than 20% of the elephants' known range is under formal protection (which is largely due to budget constraints and the instability of many Africa governments). 

World's most poisonous animals

The world is a cruel and unforgiving place; particularly for wild animals who spend their lives roaming the Great Outdoors. Only the best and fittest individuals are able to survive in it, which largely involves evading capture or the hunting and killing of smaller and weaker animals. Simply put, an animal must either kill or be killed if it is to carry on living. As melodramatic as this sounds, it's one of the most fundamental rules of Nature.

Due to this, animals have come up with a whole range of ingenious weapons to fight with and defences that guard against their demise. From horns to armour plating, animal evolution has been driven the effectiveness of their arsenals and no weapons are more deadly and feared that poisons - toxic chemicals that are injected via bites, stings or touch to incapacitate or kill both predators and prey alike.

Although there are thousands of different poisonous animals, there is a huge range in their toxicity and the damage that they can cause, meaning that not all poisonous animals are deadly. However, there are many that are incredibly dangerous and this post provides a comprehensive list of the most poisonous animals in the world.

10: Pufferfish

Pufferfish mainly use their poison in self defence. When they are threatened by a predator, pufferfish swallow large quantities of water and inflate their body so that their toxic spines stand on end.

Pufferfish poison produces a rapid and violent death within 24 hours of being stung, where an individual experiences heart palpitations, difficulty in breathing, muscle spasms/paralysis and vomiting. There is no known cure to their poison and victims eventually find themselves unable to breath, and die.

9: Golden dart frog

The venom of the golden dart (or poison) frog, Phyllobates terribilis, was once rubbed onto darts and arrowheads by hunters in South America to make their weapons even more deadly.

The golden dart frog is the most poisonous amphibian on Earth and excretes its toxins directly onto its skin. Due to this, it is extremely dangerous to pick up one of the frogs, and there is enough venom spread over the surface of its body to kill 20, 000 mice or 10 adult humans.

8: King cobra

The snake-eating king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah, is the world's longest venomous snake and can grow to lengths of 5.6 metres (18.5 feet).

As well as possessing a very potent poison that can kill in itself, the king cobra is the master of 'overkill' and injects huge quantities of venom with each bite. For example, it injects 5 times more poison into its victims than does the infamously violent black mamba. In fact the king cobra injects enough venom to kill an elephant within 3 hours, if it bites them in a vulnerable area such as on their trunk.

7: Brazilian wandering spider

The Brazilian wandering spider, Phoneutria nigriventer, is also called the armed spider and is extremely aggressive, living in banana plantations throughout Brazil.

The Brazilian wandering spider is the most deadly arachnid in the world and is named due its tendency to wander into peoples homes and clothing, where they hide during the day. Their bite is not only deadly and extremely painful, but can also lead to sustained and highly uncomfortable erections in men (priapisms) that often leads to long-term impotence.

6: Stonefish

Stonefish are found in the shallow waters of Eastern Australia and actually use their poison for self defence, raising their spines only when threatened rather than to hunt their prey of shrimps and small fish.

The toxins that the stonefish inject through their spines are said to be so painful that many who have been stung have said that they would rather have had their limb amputated than have endured the pain. In fact, the pain that they cause is believed to be on the threshold of human sensation, being described by many female victims as being infinitely worse than childbirth. Once stung, an adult will normally die within two hours if they do not seek immediate medical help.

5: Deathstalker scorpion

The Deathstalker scorpion, Leiurus quinquestriatus, probably has one of the most unpleasant poisons on this list. After being stung, a person will suffer from unbearable pain before falling into a deep coma. While in this coma, the scorpion's toxins destroy the person's nervous system, leading to irreversible paralysis and eventually, death.

Despite having one of the most potent venoms in nature, the Deathstalker scorpion will probably save more lives in the future than it ends. Their poison contains a unique clorotoxin that can be modified by scientists so that it attaches only to cancerous cells in the human brain, leaving healthy cells alone. Chemotherapeutic drugs can be attached the chlorotoxin before it is injected, effectively forming a 'magic bullet' drug that hunts down and destroys the cells in brain tumours.

4: Blue-ringed octopus

The blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena lunulata, is tiny, being scarcely larger than a  golf ball and typically feeds off small crabs and shrimps.

Like all species of octopus, the blue-ringed octopus possess specialised skin cells that allow them to change colour depending on their mood. Oddly, their lethal and incurable bite is painless and usually contains enough venom to kill 26 adult humans.

3: Marbled cone snail

The marbled cone snail, Conus marmoreus, is a predatory snail that lives in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Relative to its size, the snail is the most poisonous animal on the planet.

Due to the slow and cumbersome nature of snails, some of you no doubt find the whole idea of a predatory snail as being unlikely. It would seem that you are not alone in this and the snails appear to have noticed their limitations in speed and manoeuvrability as well, actually hunting via a poisonous 'harpoon' that they launch at fish that get too close. This harpoon is absolutely lethal, being loaded with enough poison to kill 20 adult humans.

2: Inland taipan

Also called the small-scaled snake and the fierce snake, the inland taipan, Oxyuranus microlepidotus, is native to Australia and is the most venomous snake in the world; with its poison being able to kill an adult human within 45 minutes after being bitten.

An adult inland taipan is thought to have enough venom in its body at any one time to kill 250, 000 mice or 100 humans! Unbelievably, its nervous system attacking venom has been calculated to be 50 times more deadly than the common cobra and 10 times as toxic as the Mojave rattlesnake.

Fortunately for us, the inland taipan is an exceedingly shy snake that rarely bites unless it has been provoked;  and even then, bites are rare. Due to this docile nature, no human deaths* have ever been recorded.

1: Box jellyfish

There are several different species of box jellyfish spread throughout many tropical and subtropical oceans, which all contain extremely damaging toxins, and can be easily distinguished by their cube-shaped 'heads'.

Sadly, box jellyfish have been responsible for more than 5, 500 recorded deaths since 1954*. Their poison is highly potent and attacks their victim's heart, skin and nervous tissue. If stung by a box jellyfish, a person has little chance of survival unless they receive medical help almost immediately. Fortunately, the acetic acid found in vinegar can counteract some of the effects of the poison and stop any undischarged nematocysts from injecting more venom into the wound caused by their tentacles.

Despite its incredibly potent venom and the vast number of deaths box jellyfish have caused, it is worth noting that some scientists argue that they not actually the most poisonous animal in the world and that the highly esteemed honour should be awarded to its closely related cousin, the tiny Irukandji jellyfish.



* to the best of my knowledge, the figure was correct at the time this article was published.

Ocean Giants

Throughout its history Earth has been home to animals of epic proportions. These monsters have included dragonflies the size of small planes, dinosaurs that were so big that the very ground trembled when they walked and huge land mammals such as the woolly mammoth, which were actually seen by early man! Most of these colossal animals are now extinct however, with only the occasional over-sized fossil being found as the the only indication that they ever even existed. Despite the loss of these species, Earth is still filled with giants and none are bigger and heavier than the whales. 

10: Gray whale - 45 feet/40 tonnes

The gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, is the only surviving member of its family,  Eschrichtiidae, which first appeared  over 30 million years ago. Gray whales were nicknamed devil fish during the whaling era because of their violent behaviour when hunted.

Gray whales are famous for their 14, 000 mile (22, 000 kilometre) migration route that takes them from the Bering and Chukchi Seas in the summer to Mexico over the winter. This route was once believed to have been the longest migratory journey undertaken by any animal, but recent evidence now suggests that some humpback whales can travel even further!

9: Sei whale - 48 feet/45 tonnes

The sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis, is one of the fastest species of cetaceans (the family of whales, dolphins and porpoises) and has been recorded swimming at speeds of 30 mph (50 kph).

Sei whales need to consume nearly 1, 000 kilograms of copepods (small crustaceans), krill and zooplankton every day in order to meet their energy requirements. Sei whales are a type of baleen whale, which means that they eat by filtering the organisms out of the water as they swim. Sei whales can be found in most of the world's oceans, although they are not found in polar waters.

8: Humpback whale - 45 feet/48 tonnes

The humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is easily identifiable by its  knobbly head and unusually long pectoral fins. Male humpbacks produce one of the most complex songs out of any whale species, which can last for as long as 20 minutes and are often repeated for hours at a time. Although the function of their songs is not conclusively known, it is believed that they have a role in attracting a mate.

Humpback whales are one of the most wide-spread species of whale and can be found throughout the world's oceans. They have an intensive migration route and travel over 16, 000 miles (25, 000 kilometres) a year from the cold polar waters where they spend their summer to the tropical or subtropical waters where they breed and give birth in the winter.

7: Sperm whale - 50 feet/60 tonnes

The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is the largest living species of toothed animal and has the  largest brain of any animal in the world.

Sperm whales feed predominantly on giant squid, which they dive for to depths of up to 3 kilometres. This feat makes them the deepest diving animal and they navigate in the complete darkness using echolocation. The clicks that they produce  for their echolocation have a range of 60 kilometres and are the loudest sound produced by any animal.

6: Bowhead whale - 55 feet/75 tonnes

The bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, lives in the frigid waters within the Arctic Circle. In order to keep warm here the whale has a huge layer of blubber that accounts for up to 50% of its total body mass.

Bowhead whales are unique among mammals because their bones never fuse. This means that they keep growing throughout their entire lives and individuals as long as 70 feet have been found (although this post uses the average length of each species, else it would be higher up the list). Remarkably bowhead whales are believed to live for over 200 years due to their low body temperature and females have been found over the age of 100 that are still fertile!

5: North Atlantic right whale - 52 feet/100 tonnes

With only 400 individuals of the species left in existence, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is one of the most endangered whales in the world. This is despite its protection under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Like all right whales, North Atlantic right whales can be distinguished by their broad back that lacks a dorsal fin and the callosities (thickened skin) above its eyes.  They continuously feed on copepods and other small invertebrates such as krill, pteropods and larval barnacles by skimming them out of the water and migrate from the Gulf of Maine to their calving areas off Georgia and Florida in the winter.

4: Finback whale - 90 feet/74 tonnes

The finback whale, Balaenoptera physalus, is also called the fin whale, razorback whale or  the common rorqual.  It is  the second longest animal in the world, but its thin body means it is lighter than some species of much shorter whale.

Finback whales feed off schooling fish, squid, crustaceans and krill and are unbelievably fast. So fast in fact, that they are faster than the quickest ocean steamship! This attribute has earned them the esteemed title of being the 'greyhounds of the sea'.

3: Southern right whale - 58 feet/110 tonnes

The Southern right whale, Eubalaenna australis, is recovering well since it became protected in 1937 and is now classified as being of 'Least Concern' by the IUCN, with its population growing by an estimated 7% each year.

Southern right whales spend much the summer close to Antarctica where their calves are safer from being predated by killer whales and great white sharks. During the winter, when the conditions of Antarctica become too harsh for them to remain there, they migrate north to the warmer waters of Argentina and seem to spend many hours in a unique behaviour called 'sailing'. This behaviour is believed to be recreational and consists of the whales catching the wind in their flukes and letting it propel them through the water like  boats!

2: North Pacific right whale - 60 feet/120 tonnes 

The North pacific right whale, Eubalaena japonica, feeds mainly on copepods that it constantly filters out of the water while swimming. Its prey is so small that it needs to consume millions of them each day in order to provide the energy that it needs to survive.

Unlike many other species of whale, the North Pacific right whale does not seem to have a clear migratory pattern and the only notable annual difference in their distribution is when they are breeding, where they tend to move closer inland.

1: Blue whale - 100 feet/190 tonnes

The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is a peaceful whale that eats krill - one of the smallest organisms on the planet. Although there were once believed to have been 200, 000 blue whales in the oceans, it is estimated that there are now only 10, 000 left due to their historical over hunting. Sadly, and despite now being protected, their numbers are not expected to recover due to their slow life cycles.

As far as we know the blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on this planet and is twice the weight of the biggest known dinosaur. In fact, blue whales are so big that their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant and their hearts as much as a small car!

Top 10 fastest animals

One of the simplest ways for a predator to hunt its prey or for a preyed upon animal to escape a predator is to be very fast. This fact has not gone unnoticed in the Animal Kingdom and many different species rely on this attribute for their very survival. As a result of this there has been fierce competition in the natural world to become ever faster and faster - meaning that many animals have evolved over time so that they can now move at completely ridiculous speeds! Using the fastest speed recorded for each species, this post looks at the top 10 fastest animals on Earth and includes terrestrial animals, birds and fish...

10: Sailfish - 68mph/109kph

 

Sailfish, Istiophorus spp., are prized game fish that are found throughout the warmer oceans of the world.

Growing as big as 3 metres in length and weighing to be 90 kilograms, sailfish are top predators in many ocean ecosystems that mainly hunt fish and squid near to the ocean surface. The extravagant sail that gives the species its name is normally kept down when the fish is swimming, but is raised when it feels excited or threatened.

9: Eider duck - 70mph/113kph

 

The eider duck, Somateria mollissima., is the UK's heaviest and fastest species of duck.

Eider ducks are found throughout the northern hemisphere and inhabit coastal regions, rarely venturing too far inland. This is mainly because their main source of food is molluscs, which are exposed on beaches during low tides.

8: Canvasback duck - 72mph/116kph

 

The canvasback duck, Aythya valisineria, is characterised by its long thin neck that it uses when diving to help it forage for underwater plants.

Canvasback ducks are found in North America, growing up to 22 inches long and weighing around 3.5 pounds. The ducks build their nests from mud and moss in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley in the summer, which are then abandoned during the winter as they migrate to the coasts of California.

7: Cheetah - 75mph/121kph

 

The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is the world's fastest terrestrial animal and is found in most of Africa and some parts of the middle east.

The fact that the cheetah can run so fast on land has long baffled scientists until recently. This is mainly because cheetahs are cats and the most efficient skeleton that has evolved for running is the design employed by canines. Therefore, it makes sense that a dog should be the fastest land animal. Recent studies however have helped to explain this, showing that the cheetah actually has a skeletal structure that is more like that of dog than a cat - a fact that allows the animal to produce extreme bursts of speed. These sprints cannot be maintained for much further than 500 metres however, due to the huge rise in the animals core body temperature that they cause.

6: White-rumped swift  - 77mph/124kph

 

The white-rumped swift, Apus caffer, can be easily identified by its white rump that is of stark contrast to the rest of its plumage.

 

Like all swifts, the birds feed off medium to large aerial insects and are particularly active during the late afternoon when the activity of their insect prey is at its highest. The birds are migratory, spending their summers in Northern Europe and Britain and winters in sub-Saharan Africa.

5: Red-breasted merganser - 80mph/129kph

 

The red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator, is a diving bird that is in the same family as sawbills.

 

Red-breasted mergansers can be most easily seen in the UK around coastal regions during the winter. The birds can live in freshwater as well and their tenancy to eat salmon and trout have brought them into conflict with game and industrial fisherman alike.

4: Spur-winged goose - 88mph/142kph

 

The spur-winged goose, Plectropterus gambensis, can have a wing span as large as 2 meters and can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite its name, the spur-winged goose is not a true goose and is in fact, only distantly related to the animals that give it its name. The spur-winged goose has a few physiological differences to its cousins and is Africa's biggest species of wildfowl.

3: Frigate bird - 95mph/153kph

 

There are 5 different species of frigate bird, which belong to the genus Fregata. During spring male frigate birds inflate the gular pouch on their neck, exposing their stunning red skin in the hopes of attracting a mate.

Frigate birds are seabirds that are related to pelicans and are sometimes called 'Man of War Birds' or 'Pirate Birds'. The birds primarily eat fish from deep water (in the pelagic zone) although they have also been seen to steal food from the nests of other sea birds, which makes it no surprise that they are so fast!

2: Spine-tailed swift - 106mph/171kmp

 

The spine-tailed swift, Hirundapus caudacutus, is a migratory bird that spends its winters in Australia and breeds during the spring mainly in Asia and Siberia, but have been found as far north-west as Great Britain!

 

The spine-tailed swift, also called the white-throated needletail,  is a small bird from the swift family. With its short legs, the bird cannot take off from the ground so they nest high up in cliffs or more recently, in high human buildings. When they wish to fly, the birds simply jump off the cliff and gain control during their free-fall by opening their wings. Once in flight the birds hunt aerial insects and are in fact, the fastest bird in flapping flight as the Peregrine falcon is only faster during its dives!

1: Peregrine falcon - 242mph/389kph

 

The Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, is one of the most wide-spread birds of prey and can be found across every continent that is not covered by ice.

The Peregrine is a large falcon that is about the size of a crow. The bird is a fearsome aerial predator and is renowned for its agility and unique method of hunting called stooping. The extreme speed of the bird has made it very popular as a show-bird among falconers.