RE: anyone ever hit a bird??
Three experiences with birds:
1) Flying my Sig Wonder, I turned to fly past the flight line when two mallard ducks flew about 100 feet in front of me. I was catching them pretty fast, the closer I got, the harder and faster they flapped their wings trying to get back over the pond where they live. When they finally made it over the pond, one of them went straight down, diving into the water, the other one made a 90 degree climb. I never got close and was laughing so hard I almost crashed the plane.
2) One of our glider pilots had his glider attacked by a red tail hawk. Put talon marks on the top of the fuselage.
3) Recently, one of our guys bought one of those electrics that flap the wings. Had a red tail fly over and look it over. Must have decided that it didn't look like it had enough meat on it's bones to bother with.
We have red tail hawks and ducks around our field all the time. They usually ignore the planes. We discourage anyone from harassing them.