Judy the racing pigeon has ditched her chilly Northumberland home for a tropical paradise 5,000km away.
Her owner, John Stewart, got into a flap when the veteran racer failed to return to her coop in Hadston, after being released from Bourges in France.
Mr Stewart assumed Judy perished during the 600 mile cross-Channel trip.
But he was astonished to discover the bird had somehow managed to make it 5,000km (3,106 miles) to the island of St. Eustatius in the West Indies.
Mr Stewart believes Judy hitched a ride on a ship, ending up on the other side of the Atlantic.
He had given up on his prized racing bird after she disappeared in July.
But the North of England Homing Union contacted Mr Stewart to say Judy had been found in the back yard of an expatriate British couple in St Eustatius.
The bird was traced after the couple emailed the identification number on a leg ring.
Mr Stewart said: "I didn't know what to think when they told me. I don't even know where the West Indies are.
"I think she probably took a wrong turn and dropped on a boat.
"I know I'll never get her back now, so I've written a letter to the people over there telling them to pass her on to fancier, if there is one.
"I'll miss her, but you just have to get on with life."