Auckland firefighters rescue birds 'stuck in trees' five times last year

Friday, 5 August 2022

You've probably heard of a cat being stuck up a tree, but Auckland firefighters say it’s 'not uncommon' to be called out to rescue birds stuck in trees.

According to stats released by Fire and Emergency NZ, Auckland brigades responded to 218 animal-related call-outs in the year to May, and at least five of them were birds stuck in high places.

Rescuing birds can be a challenging task. Devonport firefighter Chonell Ford said she had responded to two separate incidents, one involving a cockatoo and one a cockatiel. Both rescues were cock-ups.

“It was a bit of a disaster with the cockatiel. We ended up scaring it, and it flew off.”

Fonzie the cockatoo was stuck upside down on a power line for 20 hours in 2020.

* Fire crews battled to rescue a seagull trapped in a lamp post in Auckland - but the bird died

* Firefighters rescue tangled pigeon stuck up tree

Fire crews respond to a seagull stuck at the top of a street light on Lorraine Ave, Mt Albert, in 2018.

Meanwhile, the owner of the cockatoo had been putting their bird in the same tree for 30 years, until one day it climbed too high and couldn’t be retrieved. But, by the time fire crews responded, the feathered friend had come down by itself.

Ford said that fire crews were usually happy to help out their local community: “It’s my favourite part of the job, as long as the animal survives.”

A Takapuna brigade member said that she had rescued a seagull that got its foot stuck in the casing of a street light on Quay St in the CBD.

“It was such a visible spot in the city and people were really worried, so it got a lot of 111 calls. There were so many people watching that it was causing traffic to build up,” she said.

“We decided to view it as a training exercise with the new aerial ladder equipment. We freed it, and it flew away to much applause.”

A spokesperson at the Albany Fire Station said he had attended a job where a kererū had become stuck in a church steeple.

A bird was rescued by fire brigades after being stuck in a tree at Takapuna Beach.

“When we got there it didn’t look like it wanted to come out, but we put a ladder up and caught it in a towel,” they said.

In the year ending May, Papatoetoe station had rescued the most animals at 18, followed by Kumeu and Glen Eden at 14 each, Howick and Avondale at 13 and Henderson at 11.

Firefighters Union Auckland secretary Martin Campbell said people tend to phone the fire station when they don’t know who else to call.

A flying cat frees itself as it leaps from tree after efforts from the fire brigade to rescue it. (First published December 2016)

He said it was common for rural brigades to respond to horses and cows being stuck in streams or drains – and they had specialised equipment for lifting them.

“But birds tend to fly away and sometimes cats just climb too far up the tree.”

Sometimers, a cat may be too high up a ladder for firefighters to reach – as was the case when an 11-year-old boy in Glendowie clambered a 15-metre tree after a cat was stuck for four days.

According to the Fire and Emergency Act, a fire brigade’s main function is to prevent fires, respond to hazardous substances and free people who are trapped.

However, the act also allows for “additional functions” including medical response, weather-related incidents and “any other situation, if FENZ has the capability to assist”.

“Rescuing birds from trees comes under the option to assist if we can,” Campbell said.

“Firefighters are community-minded people, although they do have to prioritise what they are dealing with.”