It’s easy to measure a runner’s speed: just time the moment they start and when they break the finish line tape. But how do you measure a bird’s flight speed?
A method has been found, and recently, a champion among feathered flyers has emerged.
In a competition testing speed, endurance, and navigation skills, a whole flock of albatrosses from Midway Atoll, located in the Hawaiian Islands, participated. The birds were captured, transported to remote islands lost in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, and then released. Soon after, the moment of the winner’s arrival was recorded back at Midway Atoll. This winged champion flew an astonishing 6,630 kilometers (about 4,115 miles) in just 32 days.