The contract has been signed and the down payment made, but the owners of a new Ford F-250 pickup truck can’t move it off the Olathe Ford lot in Kansas City, Kan. The truck, which costs $90,000, has great features, including more than 500 horsepower in its engine, contains a quality Bang & Olufsen sound system, a two-tone paint trim, and 34-inch Bridgestone tires. However, its most notable feature is the nest resting on top of the front passenger-side tire, where four robin chicks are maturing. After the nest was discovered, the dealership’s marketing manager, Sammi Dodson, took to the Internet to see what to do. She learned that birds nests are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which makes it illegal to destroy or interfere with a nest that has eggs or chicks in it. Dodson called Operation WildLife for help and was told by Diane Johnson, the center’s executive director, that if the truck’s buyers were getting antsy, the nest could be moved to the tire of another pickup truck. Although there was another truck parked right next to the one housing the nest, the buyer — a construction company that didn’t want to be publicly named — was content to let nature run its course. It takes about six weeks for robin eggs to hatch and for the fledglings to leave the nest. On the traditional windshield sign the dealership displays on a car to show it was sold, Olathe Ford listed the customer’s name as “ROBIN” and the date of expected delivery “TILL THEY FLY.”
