Cockatoo rescued by firefighters after getting stranded in palm tree

A young cockatoo had to be rescued from a palm tree in the St Kilda suburb of Melbourne, Australia, on Monday night.



A woman had been feeding her 3-month-old pet cockatoo down at the beach when a gust of wind blew past, picking up the bird, before it landed on top of a palm tree. The bird was incredibly tame, but had its wings clipped so it couldn’t return safely to the ground.

The owners waited for several hours hoping the bird would come down on its own. They called the RSPCA but they were unable to attend. Firefighters responded at 6.26pm with a fire truck and a ladder platform, which was extended 15 metres to the top of the tree.


YouTube link.

Leading Firefighter Ben Schutt was able reach out and the bird crawled onto his arm – very grateful to be rescued. The ladder platform slowly lowered LFF Schutt and the cockatoo (named Spirit) to the ground and its very happy owners. The rescue took 20 minutes to execute.

There's a news video here.