A local wildlife guide has taught an orphaned heron how to fly by flapping his arms and squawking.

Gary Zammit, a 42-year old wildlife expert at the Gwel an Mor complex in Portreath, Cornwall, said that he managed to teach Dude, a heron he raised from a chick to an adult, how to take to the skies by first running across the field with food in his pockets. The food led the bird to follow Zammit, who then spread his arms and flapped them.

Dude, imitating Zammit, then spread his wings and began to flap them, until he finally took off.

"He never showed any signs of wanting to take off," Zammit said, according to the Telegraph.

He recalled that Dude merely followed him around during the first few days of the training, never attempting to fly, and at times merely doing a few hops.

"He's also a bit lazy," Zammit continued, according to the Daily Record. "He'd quite happily just stand around and be fed."

The heron learned to fly when Zammit decided to get into the action and flap his arms "like an idiot." The decision taught the heron to fly a few feet at first, until it reached its current 70-foot flight ability, returning whenever called.

Zammit explained that Dude was brought up by humans from the time he was found orphaned. His rearing led him to most probably perceive himself as the same kind as the humans that raised him.

Dude will be placed at a wildlife park in Portreath, and will eventually be released into the wild as soon as he reaches the appropriate age.