The first-ever rare northern bald ibis chicks in 400 years have been born in the wild after the parent birds built a nest in the local Harley Davidson headquarters.

The news that the parent birds decided to build a nest in the building is a huge success for the ambitious programme to reintroduce them in Europe which involved flying the adult birds raised in zoos to winter feeding grounds in the South using a microlight glider.

The birds were imprinted to believe that the human carer was their parent, and then followed the carer in the microlight as they flew south to Italy to show them the way.

And now the experts working in the reintroduction programme are delighted that the birds have chosen not only to build the first nest in Switzerland, 400 years after they became extinct in Europe and in the country, but the pair have also built a nest in the window of the American motorcycle manufacturer.

Zurich Zoo, in Switzerland, confirmed that the pair – named Rupert and Enea – chose a windowsill of motorcycle dealer Harley Davidson’s building headquarters in the municipality of Ruemlang, Zurich Canton, Switzerland, as their new home.

Harley Davidson Zurich Operations Manager Yannick Bardy said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “We were very surprised when we realised which special and endangered birds nest are here with us.

“We go to the nest every day and see how the northern bald ibis family is doing.”

The chicks are reportedly the couple’s first offspring after they were released near Lake Constance, near the city of Ueberlingen, by conservation experts.

And unlike other pairs in their colony, the two reportedly took a turn from their breeding area and headed for Switzerland after returning from Tuscany over the spring.

The Zurich Zoo said: “Sensational offspring in Ruemlang!

“Not far from the Zurich Zoo, a small sensation is taking place on a windowsill in the industrial area of Ruemlang these days.

“After 400 years, a wild Northern Bald Ibis pair breeds for the first time in Switzerland.

“The Zurich Zoo has been participating in various rehabilitation programs for many years, which is why we are of course particularly happy about the natural brood in Ruemlang.”

The species recognisable for its tousled neck feathers and long curved neck nearly went extinct due to illegal hunting in the 17th century.

It has been listed as ‘endangered’ on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species since 2018, after a reintroduction program called the Waldrappteam project, helped to downlist the species from ‘critically endangered’.

The aim of the programme is to increase their population so they can survive in nature on their own again.

Helena Wehner from the Waldrapp team said: “If the northern bald ibis wasn’t successfully bred in zoos, we wouldn’t have had the chance to reintroduce it into the wild.”

But despite the fact that nearly 200 northern bald ibises currently live in Austria and southern Germany, they still fall victims to power lines or illegal hunting, claimed the expert.

The aim of the programme is to increase their population so they can survive in nature on their own again.