On countless occasions, I’ve seen birds flying on collision courses with cars.  Yet somehow, they always seem to swoop out of the way at the last second.  I wondered if it was even possible for a small bird to strike a car mid-flight or if perhaps the air flowing around the car would prevent that from happening.

Today I learned that birds can indeed hit cars.

I was driving Sam along I-80 in Wyoming, idly listening to Chiddy Bang’s The Preview, when I noticed a small bird flying somewhat out of control towards the freeway.  I was doing about 85 mph (er, I mean 75, natch), so the bird was closing in fast.  It seemed like it was going to move out of the way at the last second, just like all of those previous times, but then…

THWACK!

It seems that Sam jumped up and head-butted the poor little bird.

Bird feathers and bird grease on Sam's forehead after a high-speed encounter

Look closely at that photo: those aren’t bird droppings, they’re bird feathers.  There’s some white stuff, too, which I can only describe as “bird grease.”  Keep in mind that this photo was taken a few miles down the road, so what’s present endured at least a few minutes of high-velocity wind. Clearly, there was solid contact.

I admit that I didn’t confirm the kill, but I doubt a little bird could survive a collision like that.