Diane Reitz, age 9, of Allentown, Pa., for her question:
HOW HIGH IN THE SKY CAN A BIRD FLY?
When a human being gets ready to break a record, he lets people know about it. And whether the attempted record is in running, jumping, swimming or whatever, you can bet there will be plenty of people around to witness the event, along with a host of scientific timing devices. The trouble with records in the animal world is that the animals never let us know when they are going to do their best
Honest-to-gosh records are hard to come by in the animal kingdom. Let's face it, many of our feathered, furred or finny friends just don't give a hoot about who is best in whatever category. As long as they can go fast enough, far enough, high enough or deep enough to get the job done, they are satisfied. Needless to say, however, man is a curious creature with a penchant for statistics. And whenever he happens to get a new animal record, it is duly noted.
Scientists that know about birds are somewhat hesitant to tell us exactly how high a bird can fly. This is easy enough to understand when you realize how difficult it is to gather exact information. For example, if you are standing at the top of a 5,000-foot mountain and you see a bird flying overhead, it is still necessary to estimate just how high overhead it was.
One of the best ways to gather information about the heights birds reach is to fly alongside them in an airplane. Scientists have done this on many occasions and have found that most birds fly at something less than 500 feet. However, the high fliers soar at altitudes much greater than this.
Until recently the Alpine chough was rated as the genuine altitude champ of the bird world. These sassy fellows live among the lofty peaks of the Himalaya Mountains and have often been reported at altitudes of 27,000 feet or better. Relatives of the crow, jackdaw and raven, the Alpin chough delights in daredevil acrobatics that astound even the most avid birdwatcher. He is a crow-size blackish bird who enjoys life to the fullest in the rarefied air of his mountain home.
In November of 1973, however, the Alpine chough was knocked out of the record books by another super-soarer. At an altitude of 37,000 feet, a commercial jetliner over the coast of West Africa had a run-in with a mysterious unidentified flying object. The UFO was later identified, by its feathers, as a vulture--Ruppel's griffon, to be exact--and a new bird altitude record was dutifully placed in the books.
No one knows exactly how high in the sky a bird can fly. Years ago experts might have said 16,000 feet. However, birds don't know what the experts say, so they keep flying higher and higher. Perhaps the answer is that they fly as high as they have to or, better yet, as high as they want to.