The Nerf football-size birds were scattered around Cape Cod.

Someone had located one of the black-and-white critters wandering aimlessly in the parking lot of a Shaws grocery store, in Orleans. A second dovekie — a waterborne bird and relative of the puffin — was found nearby, at the Barley Neck Inn. Others were stranded in Brewster and parts of Eastham.

They were far from home. Dovekies are arctic birds typically found miles offshore, not anywhere near Cape Cod or any big land mass. They had been blown in by powerful winds and large waves produced by Tuesday’s storm, which battered much of the state’s coastline.

With the help of volunteers and staff from Wild Care Cape Cod, a nonprofit in Eastham that takes in sick and injured wildlife for rehabilitation, many of the dovekies found along the beaches and marshes, and those discovered in backyards or parking lots, were returned to their ocean habitat unharmed on Thursday.

“It felt like a dovekies factory in here this morning,’’ said Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care’s executive director.

Ellis said the group responds every winter to calls about a couple stranded dovekies after a powerful storm. But for some reason, this week’s weather event led to an unprecedented number.

“This storm really did a number on them,’’ Ellis said. “We had a steady stream of calls coming in. People were out and walking on the beaches and finding the birds.’’

If left to fend for themselves, they would perish on the beaches and get gobbled up by gulls and other animals.

“The ones in parking lots would die and dehydrate,’’ Ellis said.

In total, the organization took in nearly two dozen dovekies this week. Fourteen of the birds were returned to the ocean by boat on Thursday, and a few others died after battling against the elements. Several are still in Ellis’s care, but she hopes to send them on their way by Friday.

While in the possession of Wild Care, the tiny dovekies enjoyed a few amenities that they don’t find while roaming the Atlantic.

To get the birds back on their feet, Ellis and her staff fed them a “nutritional slurry’’ — it’s like a milkshake for feathered creatures — made from a blend of dried plankton and vital vitamins and minerals. They were fed through tubes.

The birds, which are not endangered but are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, were also placed in cold-water therapy pools, to ensure they were waterproof before being returned to the sea.

With the help of Dorothy and Alan Cohen, owners of Ryder’s Cove Boatyard in Chatham, Wild Care officials loaded up the birds Thursday and took them to a break in Nauset Beach referred to as “The Notch,’’ which goes directly out to the Atlantic, Ellis said.

Ideally, the group would have transported the dovekies 10 miles out to sea to their offshore habitat, because although they can fly, they don’t do it very well. They are built more for being in the water. But the westerly winds were strong enough that Ellis was sure the birds would make it out to sea.

“It’s important for us to get them out on a boat and release them offshore whenever possible,’’ Ellis said. “Otherwise, they don’t stand a very great chance.’’

Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.