Boaters Rescue Tiny Bird 50 Miles off the Coast of San Diego in Sweet Video

This tiny little bird was way off course!

Author:
Kathleen Joyce
May 31, 2023 12:55 PM EDT

50 miles off of the coast of San Diego, California, the Pacific Ocean is choppy, windy, and cold. Vast and tumultuous, the unforgiving ocean is inhospitable to any creature who doesn't belong out there.

So when boater Dominic Biagini aka @dolphindronedom discovered a tiny songbird blown far off course while 50 miles offshore, he and his friends knew they had to rescue it. His video tells their sweet story.

This video managed to pack a movie's worth of rescue drama in under 90 seconds. For those not in the know, the little bird they rescued is a Townsend's warbler, and it was way off course. The Townsend's warbler can be found up and down the Pacific coastline from Canada to Central America throughout the year, but they're not seafaring birds. As Dominic said, the powerful ocean winds must have carried it and others in its flock far out to sea. Had Dominic and his friends not encountered the birds, they likely would have died out there.

Luckily, that's not what happened. Dominic and his friends were happy to welcome the warblers onto their boat, and while some of the birds were able to fly off on their own after a while, this one was clearly too tuckered out. It chose to ride with them the whole way back- sometimes courageously standing on the brim of Dominic's hat, sometimes hiding from the cold wind in a warm woolen cap. After many miles of travel, though, the group made it back to San Diego, where the warbler finally hopped away from his unlikely new friends onto a bush, back home safe and sound.