She teaches courses in English, Theatre and Women's Studies and is the recipient of the Parents' Association University-Wide Teaching Award, the Graduate Studies Dissertation Prize, Division of Humanities, “Excellence in Teaching” Award, all awarded in 1997. That same year, her dissertation was nominated for the Canada-wide dissertation prize and the Governor General’s Gold medal. The Association of Canadian Theatre Research presented the 2004 Ann Saddlemyer Award to Professor Bird for her book, Redressing the Past: The Politics of Early, English-Canadian Women's Drama, 1880-1920, published in 2004 by McGill-Queen's University Press.