A boy is recovering after he was hit in the  face by a bird while riding a roller coaster in New Jersey on  Thursday.

The collision occurred as the Kingda Ka  coaster, the world’s tallest and fastest in North America at Six Flags Great  Adventure in Jackson was returning to the station.

‘We immediately shut the ride down and  notified the state Department of Community Affairs, which is protocol,’ Park  spokeswoman Kristen Siebeneicher told the Asbury Park  Press.

Scroll down  for video

‘They cleared us to reopen the ride  approximately 30 minutes later.’

The unidentified boy was taken to a hospital  for treatment of minor injuries to his face and neck.

Forty-five-stories tall, the Kingda Ka  coaster reaches speeds up to 128 mph.

While the boy was the first reported injury  on the ride, he wasn’t the first roller coaster rider to be hit in the face by a  bird.

In 1999 Italian super-model Fabio was  famously photographed after a goose smashed into his chiselled face  leaving  him with a bloody nose.

The long-blonde model was riding the Apollo’s  Chariot at Bush Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia for a publicity stunt -  surrounded by women dressed as ‘goddesses’ – when it happened.

While left extremely red-faced and in an  obviously more serious mood than when he first embarked on the ride, he appeared  more cheery about the incident later on, joking about the bird’s own  condition.

‘I just send my condolence to the family,’ he  laughed to a TMZ reporter.

At least two women behind him were seen with  red also on their faces.