Largest bird ever: The extinct Elephant Bird that lived in Madagascar stood 10 feet (3 m) tall and weighed 1000 lbs (454 kg).

Biggest bird today: The Ostrich weighs nearly 300 lbs (136 kg).

Smallest bird: The Cuban Bee Hummingbird at 2 gm (.07 oz) and 2.1 in (55 mm) long.

Biggest flying bird: The Wandering Albatross with a 14 ft (4.3 m) wingspan.

Heaviest flying bird: Adult male Kori Bustards can weigh up to 42 lbs. (19 kg). 

Longest migration: The Arctic Tern, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and return each year, a distance of 24,000 miles (40,000 km).

Highest Migration: Bar-headed Geese reach altitudes of over 8000 m (26,000 ft), regularly passing over  Mount Everest.

Fastest bird: The Peregrine Falcon’s speed in a dive is just under 200 mph (333 kph). Its maximum horizontal speed is 68 mph (110 kph). The White-throated Needletail, on the other hand, can propel itself on the level to 105 mph (169 kph).

Largest nest:  A Bald Eagle nest near St Petersburg, Florida measured 9.5 ft (2.9 m) wide and 6 ft (1.8 m) deep.

Largest egg: The Ostrich egg, at 3 lbs (1.4 kg).

Longest bill:The Sword-billed Hummingbird has the longest bill of any bird relative to its body size. It is  14 cm (5.5 in), with a bill extending more than 10 cm (5 in) in length! 

Longest Legs: Lesser Flamingo. Standing 1.5 m tall, it has legs that measure 68 cm long, nearly half its own height!

Longest Toes: Jacanas have toes that are up to 20 cm (10 in) in length!

Most Songs: The Brown Thrasher has a repertoire of about 3000 songs.

Most feathers: The Emperor Penguin’s body is covered with 80,000 feathers.

Biggest Mouth: Tawny Frogmouth. These relatives of nightjars have a huge gape, about 5 cm (2 in) wide, ideal for catching large insects, as well as lizards, frogs and even small mammals and birds.

Highest flying bird:   Griffon Vulture at 37,000 feet.

Most aerial: The Common Swift can stay airborne for 10 months at a time.

Longevity: Bigger birds tend to live longer, especially seabirds and waterfowl which may live 30 years. Songbirds, however, live only 3-5 years on average.

Longest Lifespan: Royal Albatross  of New Zealand is the longest living bird ever recorded in the wild. Females are recorded breeding at approximately 60 years of age. 

Loudest Call: The maleThree-Wattled Bellbird opens its large mouth and emits a loud “bock” sound, carrying  up to 1.6 km (1 mile)!

Most Number of Birds: It is estimated that at least 123,000 have lived on the earth since their arrival about 200 million years ago.