A LARGE blue-and-gold macaw was spotted flying over the Wellington area much to the bemusement of commuters on Monday morning (Monday, October 7).

The bird of paradise was seen “swooping” over the roundabout at Chelston, on the edge of town, apparently distracting drivers as it settled in trees and perched on a lamp post.

Whether the bird is an escaped pet or not remains to be seen and its current whereabouts are yet to be confirmed, but Jeremy Toye, from Nynehead, was among those drivers left scratching their heads as to why such a species was “flying free” in rural Somerset.

Mr Toye said: “I saw the bird flying over my car just before 10am, thinking it was a good deal bigger than the usual crows and pigeons. Macaws are native to South America, so they’re not normally seen flying free in Somerset.

“At the Chelston roundabout I saw the macaw swoop into the trees on the island, then poke out its head as if to get it's bearings.

“Several other motorists had seen the bird, slowing down to catch sight of it. ‘Is that really a parrot?’ one van-driver shouted to me.

“My attempts at photos brought more interest from motorists, and I became concerned that I might be causing a traffic hazard.”

Jeremy believes a number of people called the RSPCA about the sighting but a spokesperson for the charity said it has not received any formal reports in relation to the macaw.

The RSPCA spokeswoman said: “If the bird is an escaped pet, we’d encourage the owner to register on Animalsearchuk.co.uk and other lost pet sites and local pages so they are reunited when someone is able to catch the Macaw.

“We receive around a million calls every year, with one report of cruelty every five minutes, so our officers need to focus their specialist skills reaching animal victims of cruelty and neglect as they have no one else to help them.

“It could be the case if someone spoke to our call centre team, and the bird is currently flying free, they were advised how to best help.”