Man and his dog rescue a hummingbird

WHITTIER, Calif. — A year ago, Ed Gernon  was walking his newly adopted dog, Rex, when the German Shepherd mix stopped and would not move.

Rex, who used to be a feral dog on the streets of Whittier, California, saw a hummingbird lying on the ground.

"I mean it's tiny and it's dead as far as I'm concerned," Gernon told KCAL Tuesday. "It's covered in ants. It's got no feathers."

But Gernon took the bird in, naming her Hummer.

He told KCAL he had to feed her a special formula every 15 minutes from the start of the day to the end.

Gernon said Hummer ended up bonding with his dog for a brief time as she regained her health in 2015.

"Wherever he was, she wanted to be close by," he wrote on a caption of a YouTube video. "She even started bathing in his water bowl, killing time while he ate before she'd start playing with him again. So strange, but amazing."

A year later, Hummer is still with Rex and Gernon.

"I rescue this dog. He rescues the bird," Gernon said. "The bird rescues all of us in a weird sense and it's just a miracle."

Gernon said he leaves doors and windows open in his home since it is time for Hummer to start mating, but she has not left yet.

Cox Media Group