[1] Bird and his two younger brothers departed England for Australia on 4 March 1863[2] aboard the migrant ship Beejapore, arriving in Keppel Bay on 25 June 1863.
During the 1867-1870 period of gold mining in Queensland, Bird spent time on goldfields around Rockhampton, Bouldercombe, Raglan, Canoona, Peak Downs and as far south as Gympie.
Bird's best success was found at Ridgelands, to the west of Rockhampton, in 1867 when he and his prospecting partner Arthur Hoskings discovered gold within the granite and slate deposits in the area.
[1] After his marriage, Bird decided to travel to the Gilbert River in Far North Queensland but only made it as far as Mackay where he recommenced newspaper work at The Daily Mercury, effectively ending his gold mining aspirations.
[8] Following the death of his wife in February 1918,[9] Bird decided to leave Rockhampton to reside in Brisbane, ending a 55-year association with The Morning Bulletin.
Upon his departure from The Morning Bulletin, the employees of the newspaper gathered in the composing room to make speeches, and farewell gift presentations to Bird.
Dr McDonald also states that Bird was a versatile writer, with his writing reflecting the resilience of human memory and his inability to gain access to official records.
[13] Bird has also been posthumously criticised for the negative way he wrote about and portrayed local indigenous tribes[14] and for omitting events where Aboriginal people were murdered.