Adopt an Owl
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Wild birds don't make good pets -- but now there's a way you can "adopt" one of Pennsylvania's most intriguing owls, and help the Ned Smith Center's research programs at the same time. Again this year, the Ned Smith Center is offering a chance to adopt the owls we catch for banding, beginning in early October. Each adoptive parent will receive a handsome certificate suitable for framing, with their name, a color photograph of their owl just before its release, its band number and other pertinent information such as age and sex. Enclosed will also be a fact sheet about saw-whet owls, and information about the on-going owl research at the Ned Smith Center. Naturally, the adoption kits make great birthday and holiday gifts. What's more, if your owl ever turns up again in the years ahead, either in our nets or at another research station, we'll send you a notification with all the details -- and a chance to experience, first-hand, the excitement that migration researchers feel. Two Levels of Support There are two levels of support. For $30, you can be one of several adoptive parents of the same owl. However, a contribution of $75 offers the rare privilege of sponsoring what banders call a "foreign recovery," the term for an owl that was originally banded at another location, often in a distant state, and recaptured by our banders. (Because the number of foreign recoveries is small and unpredictable, you may have to be patient if you opt for this level of support -- but the thrill is definitely worth the wait!) Ned Smith Center members are invited to deduct $5 from each adoption. You can also take satisfaction in knowing that part of your tax-deductible contribution will directly benefit the Ned Smith Center's bird-banding programs. With your help, we'll continue to explore the mysterious, nighttime world of the saw-whet owl for many years to come. To Adopt a Saw-whet Owl...
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