Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Klingon Bird-of-Prey

After the destruction of the USS Enterprise and the crew's subsequent theft of Kruge's ship in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey went on to be the main starship setting of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. According to producer Harve Bennett, the bold green color and look of the Bird-of-Prey led to the producers' decision to have Kirk and company pilot the stolen ship for the duration of The Voyage Home:

They had a lot of fun designing that one! And I think the color selection – a kind of serpentine kind of green – went on to help us, not only there but later. We utilized it in Star Trek IV, because it is so dramatic a look.

The drama of the ship must've been contagious as the Bird-of-Prey continued its appearances on the big screen, showing up as Captain Klaa's ship in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, General Chang's ship in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and as the Duras Sisters' (RIP) ship in Star Trek Generations.

Despite these major motion picture appearances and the aforementioned 49 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Short Treks, and Lower Decks, the ship was actually slated for more appearances than even that. The scripts for the TNG episodes "Aquiel" and "The Chase", and the DS9 episodes "Dramatis Personae" and "Crossover" all indicated the use of the Bird-of-Prey, though the ship was ultimately replaced with the Vor'cha-class attack cruiser, itself created for TNG to replace the Bird-of-Prey... but only moderately successfully.

Also of note, while General Chang's new type of Bird-of-Prey which could fire while cloaked played a major role in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, an abandoned prologue for the film would've included another Bird-of-Prey: The HMS Bounty being deconstructed and studied by Starfleet under the watch of Commander Montgomery Scott.