Raw video of Coast Guard rescue | Shern-Min Chow's 11 News report | Coast Guard rescue doesn't come cheap | Raw video: Out on a limb, the birdman speaks

William Hart is a roofer by trade, so heights are not that big a deal for him. But when his pet cockatoo Geronimo got free and took a perch 75 feet in the air Hart found himself in quite a predicament.

For four hours Tuesday, the Montgomery County man and his feathered pet were precariously perched on a branch as rescue teams from across the area tried to figure out how to get him and the bird down. Eventually it took a U.S. Coast Guard rescue team to hoist Hart and Geronimo from the tree and to safely back on the ground.

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A Montgomery County man and his pet cockatoo were stuck in a tree 75 feet in the air for about four hours Tuesday.

Hart said the bird got free about 4 p.m., and he gave it chase. Geronimo quickly made his way to the branch of a tall tree.

Hart said he at first shimmied up a smaller tree and swung himself to the tree where Geronimo had taken up a perch.

It did not take long for Hart to catch up with his pet. The only problem was, he didn't know how to get back down.

“I was kind of handicapped with just one arm having to hold onto the bird,” said Hart. “So I just hollered down for (some family members) to call for help.”

That help first came in the form of the local fire department, but the Porter fire crews did not have a ladder tall enough to reach Hart and Geronimo.

That left an air rescue as the next viable option. First, members of the Houston Police Department’s FOX air chopper team attempted to reach Hart by lowering a harness to him from above the tree line. After nearly 20 minutes, that attempt was aborted when the rope line was not long enough to reach Hart.

Then the Coast Guard came in. A four-man rescue crew aboard a HH-65 helicopter – the newest chopper in the Coast Guard’s air fleet – approached and lowered a rescue diver to Hart. With Geronimo tucked safely away under Hart’s shirt, Coast Guard rescue diver Chuck Medema reached out and grabbed the two before they hoisted to safety aboard the chopper.

Medema said despite the unusual nature of the rescue the Coast Guard actually trains for what are called “perched” rescues.

“It’s really no different (than a water rescue) just I am wearing a flight suit instead of a wet suit,” Medema said.

The rescue does not come cheap. It costs the Coast Guard $7,000 an hour to conduct such a rescue, said spokesman Petty Officer Mario Romero. The bill for the rescue though won’t go to Hart, rather taxpayers will foot the tab.

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Hart said the attempt to retrieve his bird was worth it. He called Geronimo his “baby,” noting that the umbrella cockatoo is valued at more than $1,000.

The birdlover said if emergency services send him the bill, "I guess I would have to go ahead and pay it," said Hart

For now Hart has other plans.

"I am going to go home and clip his wings," said Hart.