Richard Ely Bird
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 8th district
In office March 4, 1921 – March 4, 1923
Preceded by	William Augustus Ayres
Succeeded by	William Augustus Ayres
Personal details
Born	(1878-11-04)November 4, 1878 Cincinnati, Ohio
Died	January 10, 1955(1955-01-10) (aged 76) Long Beach, California
Political party	Republican

Richard Ely Bird (November 4, 1878 – January 10, 1955) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for the 8th District of Kansas from 1921 to 1923. Bird was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 4, 1878. He moved with his parents to Wichita, Kansas in 1887 and attended the public schools there. He was graduated from Wichita High School in 1898. Bird later studied law and was admitted to the Kansas bar in 1901. He opened his legal practice in Wichita. In 1916 he became a judge of the district court of the 18th Judicial District of Kansas and was serving in that capacity when elected to congress during the Warren G. Harding presidential landslide of 1920.

Bird unseated incumbent Democratic Congressman William Ayres by a narrow margin of 30,076 (49.4%) to 29,899 (49.1%). Bird's victory meant that all eight Kansas congressional districts would be represented by Republicans. Rep. Bird would lose his reelection bid in 1922 by a margin of 37,581 (62%) to 22,721 (38%) against former Congressman Ayres and thus resumed the practice of law. Bird ran once more for congress in 1928 against Rep. Ayres but lost by a total of 46,117 (58%) to 32,802 (42%) despite the Herbert Hoover Republican landslide. He retired from public life in 1937 and moved to Long Beach, California, where he died on January 10, 1955. He is buried in Maplegrove Cemetery in Wichita, Kansas.

• United States Congress. "Richard Ely Bird (id: B000479)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Richard Ely Bird at Find a Grave

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas
1st district	Phillips Anderson Morrill Broderick Curtis Anthony Lambertson Cole H. Miller Avery Dole Sebelius Roberts Moran Huelskamp Marshall Mann
2nd district	Goodin Haskell Funston H. Moore O. Miller M. Peters Bowersock Scott Mitchell Taggart E. Little Guyer C. Little Guyer Scrivner N. George Ellsworth Avery Mize Roy Keys Jeffries Slattery Brownback Ryun Boyda Jenkins Watkins LaTurner
3rd district	Brown Ryan Perkins Clover Hudson Kirkpatrick Ridgely A. Jackson Campbell Sproul McGugin Patterson Winter Meyer M. George Hargis McVey Ellsworth Winn Meyers Snowbarger D. Moore Yoder Davids
4th district	Ryan Kelley Otis Curtis J. Miller F. Jackson Doolittle Hoch Carpenter E. Rees Shriver Glickman Tiahrt Pompeo Estes
5th district	Anderson Davis Calderhead Vincent Calderhead R. Rees Helvering Strong Ayres Houston Hope Breeding Skubitz Whittaker Nichols
6th district	Hanback Turner Baker McCormick Reeder Young Connelly White Sparks McCarthy Carlson Smith Dole
7th district	S. Peters Simpson Long Simpson Long Murdock Madison Neeley Shouse Tincher Hope
8th district	Murdock Ayres Bird Ayres
At-large	Conway Wilder Clarke Lowe (1873–1875: Lowe Cobb Phillips) (1883–1885: Hanback Morrill Perkins S. Peters) Harris Blue Botkin Bailey Scott
Territory	Whitfield Parrott