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What is the biggest bird in the world?
There are around 11,000 species of bird living on our planet. They come in all shapes, colours and sizes, but which is the biggest of them all?
From the tallest and the heaviest to giant nests and extra-long toes, discover the world’s record-breaking birds.
What is the largest living bird?
Ostriches are the world’s biggest and fastest birds. In 1964 a male ostrich was recorded running at 72 kilometres per hour over a distance of 732 metres. We think ostriches might actually be able to run even faster in shorter bursts. © Andrzej Kubik/ Shutterstock
Ostriches are the world’s largest living birds.
There are two species of this flightless giant – the common ostrich, Struthio camelus, and the Somali ostrich, Struthio molybdophanes. Both live in Africa.
Two subspecies of the common ostrich claim the records for the tallest and heaviest birds in the world.
The tallest is the North African ostrich, Struthio camelus camelus. One particularly tall individual was measured to be 2.75 metres in height, including its head and neck, though the average height is closer to two metres. The heaviest is the southern African subspecies Struthio camelus australis, which can reportedly weigh up to 156 kilogrammes.
There have been larger birds in the past. Fossils of the prehistoric species Dromornis stirtoni suggest these flightless birds could have stood up to three metres tall and weighed as much as 500 kilogrammes. These emu-like creatures lived in Australia 6–8 million years ago. Then there are the elephant birds, which lived in Madagascar until about 1,000 years ago. These are likely the largest birds to ever live, with some reported as weighing up to 1,000 kilogrammes.
What’s the largest flying bird in the world?
Kori bustards are the heaviest birds that are able to fly. Like most other bustards, the males are typically larger than the females. © Arnoud Quanjer/ Shutterstock
The heaviest bird capable of flight is the kori bustard, Ardeotis kori. These southern African birds can weigh up to 19 kilogrammes and have a wingspan of up to 2.75 metres. While they can fly, these hefty birds spend most of their time on the ground foraging for food such as caterpillars, dung beetles and a variety of grasses and seeds.
The great bustard, Otis tarda, is also a big bird. Adult males peak at about 18 kilogrammes. Like kori bustards, great bustards are strong fliers and will fly away from danger – though repeated escape attempts will exhaust them.
There are 26 species of bustard. More than half of these species are threatened and the great bustard has recently been classed as Endangered. In most bustard species, the males are often double the weight and a third longer than the females.
Sarus crane can fly, but unlike other crane species, they don’t make long migrations. © kajornyot wildlife photography/ Shutterstock
The tallest flying bird is the sarus crane, Antigone antigone. This elegant grey-and-red species can reach 1.8 metres in height. They are found on the Indian subcontinent as well as in southeast Asia and northern Australia.
Sarus cranes breed during the rainy season and pairs fiercely defend their territory. They build large nests made out of reeds and grasses that they pile up in shallow water, creating what looks like little islands.
What bird has the largest wingspan?
The wandering albatross spends most of its life in flight over the Southern Ocean, only landing to breed and feed. © MZPHOTO.CZ/ Shutterstock
Albatrosses hold the record for the largest wingspan for a seabird.
The snowy or wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans, has a wingspan that measures on average 2.5–3.5 metres from wingtip to wingtip. The largest wingspan ever recorded in this species is 3.63 metres, but there are also some unconfirmed reports of albatross wingspans more than four metres.
Wandering albatrosses can migrate up to 120,000 kilometres in a year, circumnavigating the Southern Ocean multiple times. Their long, streamlined wings help them to catch the wind and soar long distances efficiently.
The largest albatrosses today have a wingspan about as large as the smallest birds of the extinct seabird family Pelagornithidae. The largest birds in this group had colossal wingspans of up to 6 metres wide.
Marabou storks are found across Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. They mainly eat the decaying flesh of dead animals, so like vultures, these birds play an important role in keeping their environment clean. © AndreAnita/ Shutterstock
When it comes to land birds, the Marabou stork, Leptoptilos crumenifer, likely has the largest wingspan with a verified record of 3.2 metres. There’s also an unconfirmed record of 4.06 metres for this species, however, on average, the marabou stork’s wingspan is 2.3–2.9 metres.
Another contender for the land bird with the biggest wingspan is the Andean condor, Vultur gryphus. This vulture’s wingspan can exceed 3.1 metres, making it wider than the average marabou stork.
Biggest bird of prey
Andean condors weigh up to 15 kilogrammes and can have a wingspan of more than three metres. © Gus Martinie/ Shutterstock
Birds of prey actively hunt other vertebrate animals – mostly mammals, reptiles and other birds. Eagles, owls, vultures, kites and buzzards are all considered birds of prey.
The Andean condor, which lives in South America and soars across the Andes Mountains, is the world’s biggest bird of prey. This enormous New World vulture can grow to weigh 15 kilogrammes.
What bird has the longest bill?
There are eight species of pelican. Of these, the Australian pelican has the longest bill, but the largest species overall is the Dalmatian pelican. © Vision Wildlife/ Shutterstock
The Australian pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus, has the longest bill of any bird, measuring a jaw-dropping 50 centimetres in length.
On average, Australian pelicans weigh about 5.5 kilogrammes, but some individuals have been recorded as weighing up to 13 kilogrammes. This makes it one of Australia's heaviest flying birds.
Despite what their common name might suggest, Australian pelicans are actually also found across coastal and inland waters in New Guinea, Fiji and parts of Indonesia.
The sword-billed hummingbird is one of the largest hummingbird species. It’s found in the hot and humid forests of the Andes in South America. © Milan Zygmunt/ Shutterstock
The record for longest beak relative to body size belongs to the sword-billed hummingbird, Ensifera ensifera. These little bird’s bodies are only 13–14 centimetres long, but their bills are almost as long as their bodies at 9–11 centimetres. Perfect for reaching into trumpet-shaped flowers to feed on nectar.
Such a long bill is tremendously heavy for these little birds to carry. To help their balance and to reduce strain while they perch, they tilt their heads back, letting their beaks slant upwards.
Most birds use their beaks to preen their feathers, which helps remove parasites and spread waterproofing oil. Sword-billed hummingbirds’ bills are too long to use for this, so they’ve adapted to use their feet instead.
Longest legs and toes
The black-winged stilt has the longest legs in relation to body size. © Gabor Nedeczky/ Shutterstock
Ostriches have the longest legs of any bird with each measuring up to 1.3 metres long. Unsurprisingly, this means they also have a super long stride, measuring between three and five metres normally and as much as seven metres at a full sprint.
But if we look at leg length in relation to body size then the black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus, has to be the winner. At 17–24 centimetres long, their spindly, pink legs can make up 60% of their height. These wading birds are found in marshes, shallow lakes and ponds all around the world, where they forage for food in the sandy sediment.
Jacanas are found in tropical parts of Africa, Asia and Central and South America. This is the African jacana, Actophilornis africanus. © Martin Pelanek/ Shutterstock
Jacanas, also known as lily-trotters, are a family of tropical wading birds with extremely long toes. Their toes can actually be longer than their leg bone known as the tarsus. On a bird, what looks like a backwards bending knee is actually their ankle. The tarsus is found between the ankle and the foot.
Jacanas use their long toes to help them disperse their weight as they walk over the top of lily pads and other floating plants.
Largest bird nest
Bald eagles build their large nests high up in trees or on cliffs, so it’s easy for them to fly in and out and so that they have good visibility. © Paul Reeves Photography/ Shutterstock
Birds build their nests in a variety of shapes and sizes, and out of lots of different materials. The largest of all are made by bald eagles.
Their nests – which usually look like messy bundles of sticks – have been recorded at up to 2.9 metres wide and 6.1 metres deep. The largest nest ever known to have been constructed was found in 1963 in Florida, USA. Used for 34 years until the tree it was built in blew down, it weighed a staggering 2,722 kilogrammes.
The biggest bird nests found in the UK belong to the golden eagle. The largest was a 4.5-metre-deep nest found in Scotland in 1954. Each year the birds continued to add to the nest and it’s thought that it could have been used for around 45 years.
The biggest egg in the world
The extinct elephant bird may have laid the largest eggs of any bird to have ever lived. Here’s one compared to a modern-day chicken egg.
Ostriches lay the largest eggs of all living bird species. On average, ostrich eggs are 16 centimetres long, 13 centimetres wide and usually weigh up to 1.8 kilogrammes. However, the largest ostrich egg ever measured weighed in at a whopping 2.5 kilogrammes. Despite its large size, the egg’s shell is only about 1.5 millimetres thick.
It’s thought that the largest bird eggs ever laid belonged to the now-extinct elephant bird, Aepyornis maximus. The largest of its eggs ever found is 39 centimetres long and 32.6 centimetres wide.
The thickest elephant bird eggs are estimated to have weighed around 10 kilogrammes, but proportionally this may work out as just 1% of the body mass of the bird that laid them. So, taking proportions into account, the elephant bird’s closest living relatives, New Zealand’s kiwi, are actually the record breakers. These small birds lay eggs that are 20% of their body mass.
But why would a bird lay an egg so big? Egg size is a balance. It needs to be large enough to grow a healthy chick, but also not so big that a female bird can’t meet the demands of producing them.
