Firefighters reunited two lovebirds after one of them got into a flap 100 feet above the streets of central London.
Animal rescue teams were called to the aid of a crow after he became trapped in netting stretched between the sixth floors of two blocks of flats in Holborn.
A member of the public had spotted the bird enmeshed high above Huntley Street, with his apparent partner desperately calling to him from a nearby chimney.
RSPCA animal collection officer Jill Sanders said the February 1 rescue was "extremely delicate".
She added: “This bird had really got himself into a pickle - he was right bang centre in the middle of the netting and flapping away, clearly distressed.
“Without [the fire crew's] help, this bird would have likely starved to death - a slow, torturous way to die - as there is just no way it would have been able to escape on its own."
Fire officers freed the bird after devising a method involving an extended swan hook with a knife attached to the end. Poised precariously on the edge of a building, one was able to cut through the netting to free the bird.
“It was a stroke of genius to create this complex apparatus to cut away the netting, " Ms Sanders added. "The crow was not injured and so, once the netting was removed round his foot, was able to just fly away free again.
“What was particularly lovely was that his partner crow was sitting on the nearby chimney, calling to him, and watching everything that happened intently. When he was freed they flew off together."
Each year around 2,000 reports are made to the RSPCA about wild birds trapped in or behind netting, which can pose risks when incorrectly installed or badly maintained.
