NERD BIRD

n.

A flight to or from a high-tech hub, especially Silicon Valley.

"And with more business travelers turning to the red-eye, airlines have bulked up their overnight schedules to meet demand. The San Francisco Bay area, home of Silicon Valley, launches 28 so-called late-night 'nerd birds' every night: 20 out of San Francisco, seven from San Jose and one from Oakland, an increase of roughly 40 percent from just five years ago."

— Amanda Lang, "Red Eye Flights," CNNfn, February 13, 2001

American Airlines will put a third 'Nerd Bird' in the air on Nov.3, providing another link between Austin and Silicon Valley.

— R. Michelle Breyer, "American plans 3rd 'Nerd Bird'," Austin American-Statesman, September 16, 1995

The original nerd birds were flights between Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas, the home of Dell Computer Corp. and other high-tech firms. This is reflected in the earliest citation I could find for nerd bird (see below).

A closely related term is Barbie bird, which refers to a flight between Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, which often has a high ratio of "actresses" and "models" who fly to Silicon Valley to work as booth bunnies in technology trade shows.

adorkable

aerotropolis

birdcage

geeksta

hyperwhite

nerddom

nerdistan

Aviation

Technology (General)