New Jersey animal control officer called to capture fake parrot

March 11 (UPI) -- Police in New Jersey said an animal control officer responding to a report of a parrot on the loose in a wooded area arrived to find the alleged avian was actually a decorative ceramic bird.

The Princeton Police Department said local resident Tim Lynch contacted his nephew, a sergeant in the department, when he spotted what appeared to be someone's escaped pet parrot perched on a tree in a wooded area.

Animal Control Officer Jim Ferry was dispatched to the scene and Lynch took him to where he had spotted the exotic bird.

"The two of us were walking back there not wanting to scare away it so it flies away, and as we get closer I'm thinking 'oh my gosh, this poor thing is dead,'" Lynch told WPVI-TV. "We're about two feet away, he's about to throw the net over it, and he goes 'it's fake.'"

The police department said in a Facebook post that the supposed bird was a "decorative ceramic parrot."

"We have a saying in Animal Control that a sick or injured animal is very easy to catch, and this was probably the easiest catch I've ever had," Ferry said.

The department said the faux-parrot "is being lovingly cared for" at the police station until an owner comes forward to claim it.