Elton gets pecker out

Sir Elton John turned Woody Woodpecker as he joined Sting and Bette Midler at a concert for the Rainforest Foundation.

The singer put on a plastic beak for a solo rendition of the Woody Woodpecker Song. And the wildlife theme did not stop there as Sting appeared on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York last night alongside a talking dog.

The star teamed up with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at the annual benefit concert for the charity he and his wife Trudie Styler founded 15 years ago.

Other stars to turn out for the night themed "Singin' in the Rain Forest" included Michael JFox and Billy Joel. Tickets for the event, which marked the end of Rainforest Awareness Week in New York, cost up to £1,400.

Styler said the combination of "some of the greatest performers of today and classic songs from the silver screen" produced a "truly unforgettable evening for a cause that must never be forgotten".

The foundation, which works with indigenous peoples, now has projects in rainforest countries on three continents.