# How high can they fly?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 9, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588 "2015-05-09T00:14:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588/1 "2015-05-09T00:14:34Z")

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No particular species, just birds in general.  
How high can a bird fly?

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**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588/2 "2015-05-09T00:17:23Z")

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Pretty darn [high](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_by_flight_heights).

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**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588/3 "2015-05-09T00:27:19Z")

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I was going to mention the bar headed goose in the link by Arrendajo. The Planet Earth series has an episode with them migrating over the Himalayas.

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**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588/4 "2015-05-09T01:51:54Z")

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A bird can fly as high as a woodchuck could chuck wood.(If a bird could do that)  
(Your bird’s mileage will oscillate)

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**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588/5 "2015-05-09T01:59:33Z")

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According to [this](http://blogs.bu.edu/bioaerial2012/2012/09/26/the-ruppells-griffon-vulture-the-highest-recorded-flying-bird/), the highest recorded flight was a Ruppells Griffon Vulture and it was observed at 27,000 ft(!!)…so, pretty damned high.

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**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-they-fly/719588/6 "2015-05-09T03:39:36Z")

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> [@XT](#):
>
> … the highest recorded flight was a Ruppells Griffon Vulture and it was observed at 27,000 ft …

Your link actually says 36,000 ft.