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What is the fastest animal in the world?
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The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world, but only in diving flight: it can exceed 300 km/h during its diving hunt, an absolute record. In ground running speed, it is the cheetah which dominates, with peaks around 100 to 110 km/h: the two titles cannot be compared.
Two records, two different mechanics
The speed of the peregrine falcon results from a controlled fall, called a “stoop”, and not from a flapping flight. The bird gains altitude, spots prey in flight, then drops down, closing its wings sharply: gravity does most of the work, helped by a streamlined body and nostrils equipped with small bony cones which limit air pressure at very high speed. The cheetah produces its speed through the muscular power of its strides, on horizontal ground, over a very short distance of a few hundred meters.
The measurements themselves explain the variability of the figures cited. The falcon's dive speeds were estimated by different methods: onboard cameras, tracking radars, or parachutists equipped with trained falcons who accompanied the scientists in their fall. Depending on the method, starting altitude and wind conditions, results vary, resulting in ranges from around 290 to more than 380 km/h depending on the sources. There is no single, standardized international protocol for this type of measurement in the natural environment, unlike the timed tracks used for the cheetah.
Why the comparison is misleading
Comparing a dive flight and a land race is like comparing the speed of a free fall to that of a sprint: the forces at play, the duration of the effort and the environment are not the same. In beaten horizontal flight, the peregrine falcon's speed drops to a much more modest value, of the order of 60 to 70 km/h, comparable to that of many other raptors. The title of “fastest in the world” therefore only holds in the specific category of dive, which invites us to always specify the mode of movement before comparing species with each other.
