Nothing in this world is as creative and as powerful as nature. Nature has made all of us differently and every species on the planet has its limitations and specialities. Humans are the most advanced creation of nature. They are said to be the most evolved of all the beings. But it doesn’t mean they are the strongest or the fastest. While animals lack the thinking capability that humans are gifted with, they’ve got other key strengths that include enormous muscles powers, stronger smelling and listening powers and capability to move or run faster.
There are several animals on planet earth that can win a race against a motorbike or even a car. That is how they catch their prey and hunt for survival. Unlike humans, animals are born with extraordinary physical capabilities that are a must to survive in the jungle. Scientists believe that there were sailfish capable of moving at 60 mph during the 1940s and ‘50s. Since then, many species have become endangered or extinct. But there still are animals that can travel at 30-35 mph. This is far more than human potential. In this list, I will tell you about 7 such animals that are the fastest in the world.
7. Anna’s Hummingbird: Yes birds are swift, but you don’t think of a hummingbird as a super-fast creature when you spot the tiny piece of wonder. But, the world has got the capabilities to amaze you and defeat you in race hands down. According to research, the hummingbird can attain the maximum speed of 61 mph. The tiny bird can reach speeds of 385 body lengths per second. Moving at its full potential, the hummingbird can cover the distance between two cities in an hour or two.
6. Cheetah: Cheetah and speed are synonyms. It is one of the fastest animals on the planet and the fastest animal on land. Speed is Cheetah’s main weapon while hunting. The average speed of a cheetah is 33 mph but it is nowhere near the normal speed. There is no way to find the actual top speed of a cheetah but some wildlife enthusiasts tracked a cheetah running at 64 mph to catch a piece of meat. However, they generally run between 30-35 mph as the speed is easy to manoeuvre.
5. Common Swift: The white-throated needletail which is also known as the spine-tailed swift is said to be the fastest bird on the planet. Unlike most of the birds, this one rarely flutters its wings and flies like a plane cutting through the air fiercely. While there is no defined methodology or data-backed evidence that can help the researchers in determining the actual top speed of a common swift, the average top speed of these wonderful birds is said to be somewhere around 70 mph.
4. Grey-headed Albatross: The majestic bird that is often spotted racing with gigantic ships over the seas has the Guinness World Record for the fastest bird in level flight against its name. There are famous stories of a grey-headed Albatross that got caught in an Antarctic storm and braved it while flying at 40 to 50 mph, cutting through nature’s extreme force. They are capable of flying up to a speed of 80 mph. These magnificent birds with big feathers are speed personified.
3. Hybomitra Hinei Wrighti: It’s normal to get shocked if you were not expecting a fly on the list. Neither was I when I started researching the topic. But nature has a knack of surprising us when we least expect it. There are tiny creatures with enormous capabilities and Hybomitra Hinei Wrighti is one of them. A researcher studied the speed of this species while exploiting the mating procedure where the male chases the female and both fall down eventually. The researcher fired a plastic pellet and the male chased it mistaking it for a female. The male went up to a speed of 90 mph while chasing the pellet. Thus, it is safe to say that the highest speed attained by the species is more than 90 mph.
2. Brazilian Free-tailed Bats: Bats are extremely fast and the fact is well researched and established. In 2016, a team of researchers studied the speed of 7 Brazilian free-tailed bats and found that all 7 of them crossed 55mph easily. Five of them accelerated and went beyond 70 mph. To everyone’s shock, one of them even breached the 100 mph mark. While several scientists raised suspicions about such high speed, it was eventually concluded that 100 mph was an achievable speed for the free-tailed bats.
1. Peregrine Falcon: Falcons are an epitome of speed and agility. There are two modes that the falcon operates in. One is the normal mode when it is strolling at 40 to 60 mph. Fast? Not by falcon’s standard. The real beast mode is unlocked when the falcon is looking for its prey and falls in a specialised hunting dive that experts call stoop. At this position, the falcons clock a speed of 117-120 mph easily. Bt that’s not all. Researchers studying the speed of falcons since the early 20th century have found that they can move as fast as 200 mph which is ridiculously fast.