Kestrel Chicks 'Lucky To Be Alive' After Stunning Rescue From Aeroplane Exhaust

Kestrel Chicks "Lucky To Be Alive" After Stunning Rescue From Aeroplane Exhaust

Two small kestrel chicks are "lucky to be alive" after being rescued from the exhaust of an A320 aircraft at a St Athan aircraft hangar in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.

The A320 has been at the Bro Tathan West aerodrome since last August on the runway - and was brought inside Caerdav's hangar for repairs when engineers spotted two kestrel chicks nesting inside.

Staff sounded the alarm to RSPCA Cymru, and inspector Simon Evans saved the day by carefully securing the chicks and transferring them to Gower Bird Hospital for urgent rehabilitation and care.

Engineer Colin Harrison helped the chicks by removing the APU exhaust clamp and sliding a thin piece of board between the APU rear turbine and exhaust, to prevent the chicks getting trapped.

The RSPCA officer was then able to pull the chicks to safety via a hook, before removing them by hand.

The chicks were very hungry, having not been fed by their mother for a number of days - and the RSPCA believes the birds were rescued just in time.

The rescue took place on Friday 23 July.

Kestrels have an amber conservation status in the UK - and the RSPB notes that kestrel numbers declined in the 1970s.

There's approximately 46,000 breeding pairs in the UK, and they live on a diet of small mammals, birds, worms and insects.

The birds have been nicknamed Umit and Lucky - after the two men who first found them.

Inspector Simon said: "These little chicks are lucky to be alive - and we're so relieved and grateful to the engineers who spotted them and sounded the alarm."