What's the slowest bird on the planet? Clue – it's also a pretty slow walker and fairly dumpy...

How fast a bird flies depends on a number of factors, including the shape of its wings, its evolutionary history, and its size.

What is the slowest bird?

Assuming we’re dealing with flight rather than cognitive abilities, then, according to the Guinness Book of World Records and such august ornithological institutions as the US’s National Audubon Society, the slowest sustained flight (8kph) was recorded in male American woodcocks during courtship displays.

The American woodcock lives in North America, and is just one of eight woodcock species, the others hailing from Europe and Asia. It thrives in woodland, using its long bill to poke around the undergrowth for earthworms, insects and seeds.

It’s a slow walker too

Despite the fact it can fly up to 30mph in short bursts, it’s renowned for its slow movements on the forest floor as well as in the sky. Researchers say the rhythmic walk could help them hunt by disturbing earthworms.

We haven’t been able to trace the original source of the slow-flight claim. And there are other reasons for caution.

Even if we exclude birds that are incapable of flight at all, we surely must consider species such as hummingbirds, which can hover on the spot.

This article by Stuart Blackman was first published by Discover Wildlife on 17 April 2026.