Bird finished with figures of 7-46 at Adelaide's Karen Rolton Oval on Thursday, nagging away outside the off stump of South Australia's batters as they were all out for 110.
NSW went to stumps at 2-140, Nic Maddinson leading the way with 69 runs before being bowled by Lloyd Pope just before the close of play.
Fellow opener Sam Konstas also looked solid for his 28, before falling lbw to Harry Conway, in his first game since missing out on Australian Test selection.
But while Konstas is seen as the future of Australian cricket, Bird offered a nod to its past.
The seamer will turn 38 next month, but he was at his consistent best on the opening day in Adelaide.
Five batters fell edging him to the slips, while Conor McInerney also inside-edged a ball in the opening over to Konstas at short leg off the veteran.
Bird's return marked his first five-wicket haul in the Shield since March 2021, when he bagged 7-18 against the Blues while playing for Tasmania.
"I felt reasonably good out there today," Bird said.
"But in between the wickets I got I didn't feel like I bowled well in patches. It's funny how cricket works.
"It's obviously nice to get some wickets, but it's just one day. We've got to come back tomorrow and try and get a big lead and put some runs on the board."
Only Jake Lehmann (25), Henry Hunt (30) and Harry Nielsen (20) offered any real resistance for undefeated South Australia.Â
But after the hosts were all out in 41.3 overs, the winless Blues looked far more composed at the crease.
Konstas punched one boundary off the back foot outside off stump, and had one of the shots of the day when he drove Conway back down the ground for four.
He hit four boundaries in his 28, before he was again out to a ball that nipped back into him slightly off a good length.
Maddinson absorbed plenty of time at the crease before tea, and then took charge in the final session.
He played two drives with flourish off Nathan McAndrew as he took 14 from one of the seamer's overs, before smashing Conway through cover to bring up his 50.
But it was a Pope ball that drifted, dripped and spun back between the left-hander's bat and pad that bowled him, in a rare bright spot for South Australia.
