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Officials determined it had entered the plane during boarding and flown into the cockpit.
The bird, which the captain believed was a hummingbird, was so small staff was unable to find it after more than an hour of searching, prompting the captain to turn the plane around.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the captain made the decision to return to Detroit to avoid a potential distraction during flight," Delta said.
The plane landed back in Detroit without incident and the bird was "safely removed and set free," the airline said.
The plane resumed its flight to Atlanta and landed safely after the bird was removed