The young bird had one of its legs caught in nylon and was dangling from a gum tree in Mildura Street in Fyshwick about 11.30am, both it and its parents in distress.

The tree is in the grounds of the Salvation Canberra Recovery Services Centre. Resident David Frewin spotted the trapped bird and raised the alarm.

''We just saw the magpie hanging from the nest by its leg, struggling, and its parents couldn't help it,'' he said.

Mr Frewin asked another resident, Adam Kaminski, to cycle around to the nearby Fyshwick fire station to see if the firefighters could help.

''I was quite concerned like David. Even the parents were still trying to feed the baby,'' Mr Kaminski said.

''It was pretty horrible to see.''

The Fyshwick crews used the Bronto elevated platform to get to the bird high up in the tree.

Senior firefighter Brian Davy and firefighter Jesse Matthews quickly removed the nylon, which had probably been part of the nest, and put the magpie safely back into the nest.

Mr Matthews has been a firefighter foronly six months, and was on his first animal rescue.

''It's good to do your bit for the community,'' he said.

ACT Fire Brigade District Officer Steve Gibbs said the service did about 10 to 12 animal rescue jobs a year.

''This is part of the unusual work the Fire Brigade does, it's not something we do very often, but it's a nice, feel-good thing if we can get an animal like this down and fix it and make it safe, and that's what the guys have done today,'' he said.