Ananova:

Firemen had to be called out to rescue a parrot with a fear of heights that got stuck at the top of a tree.

Ollie's phobia only became apparent after he escaped through the skylight of his home in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, reports The Scotsman.

The Australian Red Sided Eclectus flew about a mile before settling near the top of a 50ft tree where fear left him stuck – for four days.

Owner Mario D'Amico was beginning to give up hope until his neighbour told him he had heard a bird while out walking at nearby Inveresk.

"We rushed up there and we could hear a bird saying "hello" and we knew we had found Ollie," said Mr D'Amico.

"He knew we were there and kept saying 'hello mummy, hello daddy' and 'good boy, bad boy', but he just wouldn't come down."

Mr D'Amico eventually called the Scottish SPCA, where an inspector deemed the situation "life-threatening" for Ollie because the parrot hadn't eaten for days.

The fire brigade was called in, but found the tree was too tall for them to climb, leaving them with only one option – using a high pressure hose to "scare" him off his perch.

Mr D'Amico said: "I didn't think it was a very good idea in case he flew further up the tree.

"But we were really panicking by this point and were desperate to get him down, so we decided to chance our luck with the hose and eventually he came down. I was in tears of joy."

Robert Baldie, an inspector with the Scottish SPCA said: "He was probably scared of heights. He's used to being in a cage and then suddenly he's stuck up a tree."