How high can birds fly?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science, Technology

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While watching a feisty cockatoo chase after a hawk, CrowdScience listener Alison saw the hawk catch a thermal and rise effortlessly into the sky. The cockatoo gave chase, but the hawk climbed higher and higher until it became just a tiny speck, barely visible to the naked eye.

And that got Alison thinking: just how high can birds go? Are there altitude limits for our feathered friends? Could a cockatoo, a sparrow, or even a duck reach such dizzying heights if they really put their wings to it?

Presenter Alex Lathbridge sets out to investigate. Biologist Catherine Ivy reveals that life above the clouds isn’t easy. At high altitudes, the air is thinner, oxygen is scarce, and wings don’t generate as much lift. But some bird species have evolved incredible adaptations to overcome these challenges.

Among them: bar-headed geese, renowned for their daring flights over the world’s tallest mountains. Physiologist Lucy Hawkes delves into how these geese defy the odds with their remarkable physiology, revealing the surprising discoveries she made while putting some of them on a treadmill.

From super-powered hearts to clever lungs, we uncover the secrets behind nature’s impressive aviators.

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge Producers: Ilan Goodman and Jeremy Grange Editor: Cathy Edwards Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Technical producer: Sarah Hockley

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Traitors is back and so is that mysterious cloaked figure with the familiar fringe.
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0:27.1	The Traitors Uncloat.
0:28.4	Watch on EyePlayer, listen for more on BBC Sounds.
0:35.1	Hello, you're listening to CrowdScience from the BBC World Service, the show where Curiosity takes flight.
0:43.4	I'm Alex Lathbridge, your wingman for this episode, which lifts off in Australia with the story of a hungry hawk and a brave cockatoo.
0:53.6	Hi, my name's Alison, and I live in the southern suburbs of
0:57.8	Sydney in Australia. Right now I'm out on my morning jog down by the Warranora River. There's lots of
1:05.7	bushland nearby and I'm surrounded by lots of bird life, as you can probably hear.
1:11.9	A couple of months ago I was down here one morning when my attention was drawn to a flock of
1:17.4	about 20 or 30 cockatoos, about 300 metres away from where I was, madly circling the
1:24.8	tree tops and screeching and squawking and making a huge fuss.
1:29.3	For those listeners not familiar with the sulphur-crested cockatoo, it's a large parrot-like bird,
1:36.3	it's native to Australia, maybe about half a metre long.
1:40.3	It's got all white feathers and a distinctive yellow crest. Well, these cockatoos were certainly
1:47.0	not happy, and I soon discovered why. There was a hawk nearby, and one of the cockatoos was trying
	...

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