An air carrier Captain reported that his aircraft injested a seagull at V1 speed on takeoff roll. The engine continued running and the crew diverted to an enroute airport were fan blade damage was discovered.

Narrative

Captain's takeoff from ZZZ; just after dawn. Ingested large seagull into right engine during takeoff; after V1. Saw several birds go by; heard and felt ingestion followed by buzzing noise and slight airframe vibration. Continued takeoff and departed toward destination as crew evaluated engine performance. Climb; cleanup; and acceleration to clean maneuver speed was uneventful as engine buzz and vibration continued. Captain elected to level off at 10;000 MSL at 210 KIAS to consider options. All engine parameters were normal with vibration staying below 4.0. Flight attendants were briefed about what happened; followed by a PA to the passengers. After discussing with Dispatch; Maintenance; and First Officer; Captain decided to continue to an enroute airport at a more fuel efficient altitude of FL240 but remain at clean maneuver 210 KIAS/ Mach 0.50. Although a return to ZZZ was considered; it was deemed more of a risk due to high bird activity; reduced runway length and limiting terrain. Flight attendants were concerned about the passengers and asked for a second PA to allay concerns. About 30 minutes from landing an emergency was declared with Center to ensure traffic priority for landing. A visual approach was flown with normal configuration. Crash/Fire/Rescue were positioned near the runway at landing and one aid truck followed to the gate. Post flight inspection showed 8-10 fan blades damaged and no other apparent damage. ZZZ ATIS warned of high bird activity before our pre-dawn landing and post dawn takeoff. No birds were noticed during arrival mainly due to darkness and birds still in their roosts. During taxi out no birds were noticed until we began the takeoff roll. Our noise and motion may have stirred them into flight. There may have been an opportunity to do a low-speed abort once the birds started to move. Presented with this same situation I may delay the takeoff or abort when ZZZ Tower issues a high bird activity warning and observe actual flock movements on the aerodrome.