as the crow flies

Cultural  

1. The most direct route between two places: “From here to Gold Bar, it's only ten miles as the crow flies, but twenty miles by the winding mountain road.”

---

as the crow flies Idioms  

1. In a straight line, by the shortest route, as in It's only a mile as the crow flies, but about three miles by this mountain road. This idiom is based on the fact that crows, very intelligent birds, fly straight to the nearest food supply. [Late 1700s]

---

Example Sentences

We had a house at the top of Mount Washington where, on a clear day, I could see the downtown skyscrapers surrounding my office—five minutes, as the crow flies.

From The Wall Street Journal

No, not a stone’s throw but as the crow flies.

From Los Angeles Times

Paradise is only about 13 miles southeast of Cohasset, as the crow flies.

From Los Angeles Times

"We said that a gold mine in Erzincan, which is on an active fault line and 300m away from the Euphrates River as the crow flies, is very dangerous," Mr Torun said.

From BBC

On a clear day from the 4,200-foot summit, you can see San Francisco to the north, as well as the entrance to Yosemite Valley, 120 miles east, as the crow flies.

From New York Times