What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

The story behind the answer

24 MPH is correct because ornithological estimates put a European swallow’s typical cruising airspeed near 11 m/s—about 24–25 mph—when it’s unladen (not carrying anything). This aligns with measurements of small songbirds’ flight speeds and matches calculations based on wingbeat frequency, mass, and lift.

The question is a playful nod to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where the joke hinges on asking whether the swallow is African or European. Fans later crunched the numbers and confirmed a mid‑20s mph cruise is plausible. Memory tip: think “swallow ≈ school‑zone speed”—about 25 mph, rounded here to 24.