• Outdoors Outdoors

Owner of brand-new F-250 can't drive off lot yet, as a robin nest puts the truck under federal protection

"We're all laughing because we're an animal rescue."

A baby bird with an open beak appears in a nest made of grass on top of a truck's tire.

Photo Credit: Olathe Ford Lincoln

One brand-new Ford F-250 is ready to hit the road — except for a tiny, federally protected problem sitting on its tire.

A mother robin built a nest on the sold truck at Olathe Ford Lincoln in Olathe, Kansas, and now the buyer has to wait until the chicks are grown and gone before taking delivery.

The unusual delay began this month, when an employee at the dealership spotted a robin nest atop one of the truck's tires, People reported. The vehicle had already been sold, but the dealership said federal protections for robins and active nests mean it cannot move the nest.

The store leaned into the situation on social media, joking, "This may be the only F-250 in America currently protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act." Photos shared by the dealership showed the mother robin perched on the nest, then four blue eggs, and later the newly hatched chicks.

Dealership manager Sammi Dodson told From the Road, via People, that the team has been closely tracking the nest's progress as the baby birds grow. The truck's new owner, meanwhile, has agreed to wait while the robin family finishes using the unexpected nursery.

The dealership also said the adult birds are keeping watch over the nest as the hatchlings develop and prepare to leave it. The dealership noted that staff members are monitoring the robin family from a distance while the chicks mature enough to fly away, at which point the truck can finally go to its owner.

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The business has also publicly thanked the buyer for being understanding, calling the customer "patient and thoughtful."

Dodson told KMBC that animal surprises are nothing new at the dealership. Staff members have previously found cats in vehicles, and one employee even adopted one. She said a customer recently arrived for an oil change and workers discovered "a mama possum with about seven baby possums" under the hood.

"We're just playing the waiting game and watching them grow," Dodson told From the Road. "It's so exciting. We're shocked at how fast they grow. … It's going to be sad to see them go." She added, per KMBC: "We're all laughing because we're an animal rescue."

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