Tweety the bird rescued by robot

These remote-control robots are usually used for disarming bombs

A robot built to disarm bombs was put to an unusual use on Friday, rescuing a pet bird from a Sydney apartment block.

Tweety the cockatiel was stranded for two days after the building partially collapsed, undermined by a new tunnel.

No-one, including Tweety's owner Karen Bruce, was allowed into the building because police deemed it too dangerous.

But help came in the form of a remote-controlled robot, which emerged from the building carrying Tweety in her cage.

Ms Bruce immediately ran to take Tweety out for a cuddle.

"Tweety is a hand-reared cockatiel who likes daily contact," she explained.

"It's fantastic to have Tweety back," said Ms Bruce, who has yet to get any other possessions from her flat.

She said she would take the bird to a vet to be checked out, but that so far she did not seem to have suffered too much from the ordeal.

"I don't know. I'm not a vet, but she's had a bit of seed... so she is quite content," Ms Bruce said.