He stood in his first county game in 1970. Three years later, he officiated at his first Test match, England v New Zealand at Headingley in Leeds. The other umpire was Charlie Eliott as England won by an innings and one run. Bird also umpired in the second and third tests of that summer's tour by the West Indies – both of which proved eventful: in the second test at Edgbaston, Bird had to umpire from the bowler's end at both ends for couple of overs, with a substitute umpire at square leg, when Arthur Fagg refused to continue in protest against the conduct of the West Indian players. Then, in the third test at Lords, play was interrupted by an IRA bomb scare (later found out to be a hoax). While the crowd cleared out of the ground in record time, Bird and the players sat down in the centre of the pitch, knowing there was no bomb there. He gained a reputation for stopping play for weather, and almost never giving batsmen out LBW – he gave LBWs so seldom that if he did give it, there was absolutely no doubt the batsman was out. Bird was also very strict on the definitions of "intimidatory bowling", both from short-pitched deliveries and high full tosses, and made it abundantly clear he would tolerate none of it.