Drunk man calls Uber for injured goldfinch

You don’t always have to be sober to make a difference

The first Uber driver to arrive refused to transport the two-week-old chick to the rescue centre, but the second driver agreed (Getty)

A man who saw a fledgling goldfinch fall from the sky called an Uber to take the injured bird to a rescue centre because he’d had too many drinks to drive himself.

Tim Crowley was reportedly drinking responsibly during the daytime with friends on a neighbour’s porch last month when he saw the small bird hit the ground, according to US news outlet KSTU.

He and his friends took a photograph of the bird and sent it to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre of Northern Utah. Workers at the centre recognised it as a young lesser goldfinch, and texted Mr Crowley back advising him to bring the bird into the centre.

But being over the drink drive limit, Mr Crowley called an Uber to taxi the bird to the centre.

However, the first driver who appeared refused to take the tiny bird in the car, reportedly finding the request too odd. Fortunately a second driver, named by CNN as Christy Guynn, agreed.

They put the bird in a box with leaves and put it in the car.

“The only noise was the chirping,” Ms Guynn told KSTU. “I guess he was happy when I turned off the air conditioning off and rolled the windows down a little bit. I definitely think it was a little too cold for him.”

Describing the afternoon, Mr Crowley told KSTU: “Impromptu, sitting in some camp chairs, hanging out, having a few drinks when we had a visitor fall out of the sky.”

Initially he and his neighbours were unsure what to do, until somebody suggested calling a private hire cab for the young invalid.

“At first it was a joke, like, ‘Hey, maybe we should just call Uber!’” he said. “Then we were like, ‘No, really. Why not? We’re paying them.’”

The orphaned bird was reportedly less than two weeks old.

Since the bird, which was apparently named Petey Uber, arrived, another two birds have also been delivered to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre by Uber, with staff speculating it could be the beginning of a bird-rescue phenomenon.

“Can you imagine fifty people a day… callin’ an Uber to transport sick birds to wildlife rehab centres around the US?” staff wrote on the centre’s Facebook page.

Petey appears to have made a good recovery and is still being looked after at the centre.

“While we feel we’ve seen it all and can’t be amazed by anything, there is always SOMEONE out there to prove us wrong,” staff said.