(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Gwyneth Paltrow was left horrified when a seagull she'd befriended became trapped in cables.

The actress has been shooting Iron Man 3 recently, in which she reprises her role as Pepper Potts. A seagull became a regular visitor to the set, with Gwyneth even calling the bird Robbie 3PO - her nickname for her co-star Robert Downey Jr.

She formed a bond with her feathered friend and so was dismayed when it became tangled in some on-set cables.

"The seagull kept flapping its wings trying to free itself, but the more it flapped the worse it got - we literally thought it might kill itself," an insider told National Enquirer. "It kept striking out with its sharp beak at anyone who tried to help. But Gwyneth wouldn't give up and finally managed to free the frightened bird, which promptly flew off to the ocean."

The actress feared that was the last she would see of the creature and so was delighted when it put in another appearance.

"The next morning he came flying back and went right to Gwyneth to beg for breakfast table scraps," the source laughed. (C) Cover Media