Australian officials are trying to capture and destroy the bird as a “direct biosecurity risk to Australian birdlife”, Al Jazeera reports.

The racing pigeon disappeared from the US state of Oregon in October and turned up in Melbourne resident Kevin Celli-Bird’s garden in December.

Mr Celli-Bird, who said he has no interest in birds “apart from my last name”, was asked to help catch the pigeon but has had no luck.

“I said, ‘to be honest, I can’t catch it. I can get within 500mm of it and then it moves’,” he said.

Australia’s agriculture department said the pigeon is “not permitted to stay in Australia”.