Baby robins 'doing exceptionally well' after rescue from disused Luas tram

The baby Robins which hadn’t been fed for a day at least when they were found in a disused Luas tram.

Four baby robins discovered in the engine of a disused Luas tram are thriving in rehab after quick-thinking maintenance workers got them to safety.

The chicks were heard chirping in a locked-up shed in a yard beside the Red Cow in south Dublin when engineers went to investigate. Rescuers say the birds may have been there for around a day without food or water — after the train was moved into a closed area — and would never have survived alone.

The workers immediately contacted Kildare Wildlife Rescue, who dispatched an experienced bird rehabber. The tiny chicks were carefully removed in their nest for their own safety and under the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) advice.

The nest of baby robins in the disused Luas tram. The tiny chicks were carefully removed in their nest for their own safety and under the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) advice.

Lisa McAuley, who is a licensed wildlife volunteer in Tallaght, south Dublin said the chicks were “doing exceptionally well”.

She said told the Irish Examiner: “They had been in the shed over a day, it was closed, and the parents wouldn’t have known where they were gone when they came back because the tram was moved.

“They hadn’t been fed for a day at least. You have to get permission from the National Parks and Wildlife to take a nest into safety, which we did get.

“I was able to get one hand into the back of the engine and scoop out the whole nest, so they were still sitting in it. They were starving.” Lisa who devotes her life to rescuing birds and wild animals as a volunteer, said the first thing she did was “warm the babies up”.

Heat is vital for babies, and you have to rehydrate them first, so I gave them critical care and you dab fluid around the beaks after they are warmed up.

“When they were ready for feeding, I used meal worms and put them into critical care. You feed them with a tweezers and it all has to be done so gently. I’m doing this a long time. Once you start getting food into them, feeding time is every half hour during the daylight hours.

“They are very hungry all the time. I have great respect for the parent birds, they work so hard to care for their chicks. As do most wild animals. Then you have to train them over the next few weeks to look for food and associate areas of ground with food.” 

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Lisa is caring for the baby robins as nesting season is under way, which runs from March 1 to September 1. During this time of year, Section 40 of the Wildlife Act makes it an offence to destroy vegetation on cultivated land.

Hedging and trees provide a safe space for birds, hedgehogs and other animals to breed, and it is illegal to destroy the natural habit of a protected species in Ireland. In 2021, the National Parks and Wildlife Service said it was on “high alert” for offenders.

Birdwatch Ireland is also encouraging members of the public to watch out for injured or fledgling birds. Its website states: “If you encounter a baby bird out in the open, moving it to a safer location with some cover may help its chances.”