Gaining its name from the bold pattern of an alien bird's feathers painted on the ship's ventral hull, the Romulan Bird-of-Prey was the successor of a 22nd century counterpart of similar design.
Starfleet first encountered this vessel in 2266, when a single ship of this type crossed the Romulan Neutral Zone and attacked several border outposts, destroying them utterly. The USS Enterprise responded to the alert and engaged in a tense game of cat-and-mouse with the intruder for more than ten hours, before the Bird-of-Prey was destroyed.
