Bird, taxidermy specimen, cased bird, adult Andean condor perched on rock; blue background, artificial rocks as groundwork acquired by J.H.Gurney from Mr Warwick, Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) from
This impressive condor was donated in the 19th century by banker and philanthropist J. H. Gurney. Despite its huge size, this young male is not fully-grown! Condors are famed for their soaring ability, rarely even flapping their huge wings once aloft, instead relying on thermal air columns to keep them in the sky.
Birds range in weight from the Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae), weighing from just 1.6 g, to the Common Ostrich (Struthio camelus), weighing in at up to 156.8 kg. However, the size of most birds is constrained by one limiting factor - their ability to fly. This means that the smallest flying bird by wing area is the Bee Hummingbird (0.0007 m2) and the largest is the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) (1.06 m2).
