Bird-of-Prey
In starship classification, a Bird-of-Prey was a type of smaller warship, essentially smaller warbirds. Generally they resembled large predatory birds. (; )

Two cultures were known to operate Birds-of-Prey:
Klingon Empire
22nd century Bird-of-Prey
Mid-23rd century Bird-of-Prey
Late-23rd & 24th century Bird-of-Prey
Romulan Star Empire
22nd century Bird-of-Prey
23rd & 24th century Bird-of-Prey

Appendices

Background information
The first "Bird-of-Prey" seen was in  and was of the Romulan variety. As originally conceived, the Klingon variant of the Bird-of-Prey was actually a Romulan ship; the script of Star Trek III at first called for the film's main villains to be Romulans using a Romulan Bird-of-Prey, as had been typical of Bird-of-Prey use in .

In the chronology of the Star Trek universe, the term "Bird-of-Prey" was first referenced on Enterprise in , and may have been implied to be the "two ships approaching at high warp" at the end of that episode. An earlier reference made in  to "a fleet of warbirds" was mentioned by Brannon Braga as a mistake, implying that the production team only wished Romulan ships to be identified as warbirds.

Apocrypha
In the game Star Trek: Legacy, the Bird-of-Prey is available as a ship for the player to control.

External links

de:Bird-of-Prey
fr:Oiseau-de-proie
ja:バード・オブ・プレイ
nl:Roofvogel
pl:Bird-of-Prey
Spacecraft classifications