Definition
A collision between an aircraft and one or more birds during flight, takeoff, or landing. Bird strikes can damage windshields, control surfaces, landing gear, or engines, and ingestion of a bird into a turbine engine can cause partial or total power loss.
Plain English
When an airplane hits a bird (or a bird hits the airplane). It can damage the aircraft and, depending on where the bird is hit, may force the pilot to abort the takeoff or make an emergency landing.
Context Anchor
In a rejected takeoff discussion, a bird strike is one possible event during the takeoff roll that may make the pilot stop the takeoff if there is enough runway to do so safely.
Derivation
“Bird” is the common word for the animal. “Strike” comes from an old word meaning to hit. Together, the phrase means a hit involving a bird, but in aviation it covers contact with any part of the aircraft, not just a direct hit on the windshield.
Why Pilots Care
Impact can damage engines, windshields, or flight controls and may require an immediate rejected takeoff.
Intuition Check
Do not think of a bird strike only as a large bird hitting the windshield. In aviation, even a small bird contacting the propeller, wing, landing gear, or engine can count as a bird strike.
Example Sentence 1
A flock of geese crossed the runway just as the airplane reached rotation speed, and the pilot rejected the takeoff after a bird strike cracked the windshield.
Example Sentence 2
Maintenance inspected the aircraft following a bird strike reported on final approach.