The Scottish SPCA was called out to rescue an injured parrot in Aberdeen - only to discover it was a Christmas hat.

The animal welfare charity was alerted after a woman spotted what looked like a parrot lying in the middle of a road

It soon became clear the creature was in fact a colourful hat.

PICTURE: Woman "mortified" after calling in @ScottishSPCA to rescue injured parrot in #Aberdeen - but it was a hat. pic.twitter.com/m3rHmnIuiu — BBC North East Scot (@BBCNorthEast) December 22, 2014

Animal rescue officer Karen Hogg, said: "It's fair to say the lady who called was mortified when I called her back to tell her it wasn't actually a parrot.

"When she was on her way home from the shops, she thought she saw an injured bird on the road.

The hat has green holly which she assumed was the body and a red bobble sticking out which she thought was the parrot's head."