ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

What Are The Top 5 Largest Birds In The World?

Updated on March 31, 2014

Whether you love them or you hate them, there can be no denying it that birds are one of those animals that we simply can't escape from in our everyday life. From the smallest to the largest, each of them are unique and fascinating in their own individual ways. However, the question to comes to mind about what is the largest species of bird in the world?

In order to do this though, we are not going to look at size and weight of the bird in making our decision. Instead, we shall look at what are the largest birds in the world based upon their wingspan.

An Example of the wingspan of an airplane
An Example of the wingspan of an airplane | Source
Source

5. The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)

At number five on our list of the largest bird wingspans in the world we have the Whooper Swan (pronounced Hooper) with an average wingspan of between 6 ft. and 9ft. (2.75 metres). These birds, native to the northern hemisphere are relatively good at flying despite their size and weight. Their rather large wingspan could perhaps be said to be aiding them with this.

Whatever you might think about them, there is no denying that Swans look so majestic when they are in flight. They may have a bad temper when being approached by humans; then again we should not be going and trying to approach these swans in the first place.

4. Andean Condor (Vultur Gryphus)

At number four on the list of the largest birds in the world is the Andean Condor; a South American bird and member of the Vulture family. Found mainly in the Andes mountains and their adjacent coastlines, this bird is reported to have wingspans of up to 3.2 metres (10.5 feet). As a scavenger this bird feeds predominantly on the dead carcasses that it finds such as those of deer or cattle. What might be interesting to note about this bird though, is that unlike many other birds of prey, the male of this species is larger in size than the female.

Another quite interesting fact about this bird is that it is said to be one of the longest living birds with a lifespan of up to one hundred years old whilst remaining in captivity...

3. Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus)

The third largest bird on our list is the Marabou Stork with a reported wingspan of up to 3.7 metres (12 feet). It is a sub-Saharan species of bird which is said to inhibit areas near human settlement. This is mainly because of its scavenging ways and so you will often find these birds around rubbish tips. It mainly feeds on the flesh of dead animals, however, they have been noted to feed on other smaller birds such as Pigeons.


2. Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)

At number two on our list of the five largest birds in the world we have the Great White Pelican. This bird is part of the Pelican family (as you may have guessed) and is found predominantly in southeast Europe and Asia. In terms of wingspan, these birds are said to normally be between 2.20 metres (7.4 ft.) and 3.8 metres (12 ft). However, they need a large wingspan when you consider that adult males can weigh anywhere from 9kg (20lb) to 15kg (33lb).

1. Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans)

At number one on our search we have the Wandering Albatross. It is commonly found on Islands in the Southern Hemisphere such as New Zealand. The Wandering Albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, typically ranging from 2.51 to 3.5 m (8 ft 3 in to 11 ft 6 in), with a mean span of 3.1 m (10 ft 2). It is the largest member of the albatross family and as such is said to be one of the largest birds in the world.

What is strange about these birds though, is that they spend most of their lives in flight landing only to breed and feed. Hence, the reason why they are called the wandering albatross.

In terms of diet, they are similar to most sea dwelling birds in that they eat crustaceans and fish.

However...

These would not have been the birds with the largest wingspan ever.

Argentavis Magnificens

This prehistoric bird from around 6 million years ago was said to have had a wingspan of 7m (23ft.). Fossils for these birds have been found in Argentina...


More Interesting Articles

Who Are The Top Five Fastest Runners In The World?

The world of sprinting is one of the most competitive athletics disciplines. In this article we take a look at who exactly are the top five fastest runners of all time...

What Are The Five Deadliest Snakes In The World?

There are hundreds of different venomous snakes out there in our world however, in this article we will take a look at the five deadliest. Each of which could easily kill numerous humans with just one single bite...

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)