A teenager is appealing for Bradford residents to keep an eagle eye out for his beloved bird after it flew the coop.

Chris Johnson, pictured with his feathered friend, had saved up for a year to buy the Harris hawk after seeing a falconry display while on holiday at Centre Parcs.

The Bingley Grammar student went on a number of courses to make sure that he could look after the £275 bird and train it to fly back to him.

But despite the best planning the five-month old bird, named Kirby, escaped from his new home in Otley Road, Eldwick, just days after moving in.

"Before my mum went to work she went to see the bird at about 8.30am," Chris said.

"It was fine and sat there all tied up. When I went down there at 10.50am it was gone.

"Apparently they can do undo knots."

The bird had managed to undo the tether keeping it to its perch, flying out of stable door that had been kept open due to the heat.

Chris said he went straight out to look for the bird in the hope that he could entice it back home.

"We saw it around noon and it was on a roof but it wouldn't come down," he said.

Chris is hoping that the bird will be easier to catch once it gets hungry.

But there is a danger that the bird will be able to catch its own food in the wild.

"It could last a week and a half on what it had been fed before it escaped," he said. "If it starts hunting it will be impossible to get it back, but I don't think it will.

"It's not very fit at the moment and will tire itself out if it has to hunt."

The bird is described as around the size of a crow. It is light brown underneath its wings and on its chest and has a wing span of approximately four feet.

Mum Sandra said Chris was distraught that the bird had escaped.

"He's very upset because he's wanted this for a long time and used his own money, and it was a lot of money," she said.

Mrs Johnson asked anyone who saw the bird to call her on (01274) 551432.