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How High Do Birds Fly?
5,000 feet? 10,000? 30,000? Even higher!
© Jaimie Wilson
For the majority of the year, most birds stay under 500 feet. During migration, many species fly at 2,000 to 5,000 feet or above, using prevailing winds to assist them. And some birds go even higher! In 1973, a Rüppell’s Griffon set the world record by soaring to 37,000 feet.
BirdNote®
How High Do Birds Fly?
Adapted from a script by Frances Wood
This is BirdNote.
[Music from the opening of Sibelius’ Symphony 6 Op. 104]
From our land-based perspective, birds appear to fly fairly low. And for much of the year, birds stay below 500 feet where food and shelter await them.
Migration season is a different story. For birds that travel long distances between their breeding and wintering territories, there’s good reason to gain altitude. Many migratory species fly at 2,000 to 5,000 feet, where they can use the prevailing winds to assist them on their way.
On a long-haul flight, a bird may start their journey at about 5,000 feet and then slowly climb to 20,000 feet. One record for high-altitude flight was a flock of swans over Northern Ireland, visually identified by a pilot cruising at 29,000 feet.
But the all-time record for highest-flying bird goes to a vulture with a ten-foot wingspan called a Rüppell’s Griffon. In 1973, one was observed soaring at 37,000 feet. That’s more than a mile and a half higher than the summit of Mt. Everest! Unfortunately, we only know about this remarkable achievement because the bird was struck by a passing jet — so it’s hard to say if this was a one-time feat or a routine excursion.
We may not have the full picture of what birds are doing way up there above the clouds, but one thing’s for sure: a 30,000 ft view is a birds-eye-view too.
For BirdNote, I’m Jazzi Johnson.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Musical selection drawn from Symphony 6 Op. 104, composer Jean Sibelius, performed by The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, BIS BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote September 2005 / 2011 & August 2025
Narrator: Jazzi Johnson
ID# flight-01c-2025-08-28 flight-01c
Frances Wood
Writer