Skip to content

Feed a bird in need this holiday season with BC SPCA gift program

Adopt an owl at Wild ARC and get a stuffed great horned owl to keep
31299196_web1_221213-GNG-UnexpectedGiftsWildlifeEdition-sub_1
Give the gift of flight this Christmas with a series of stuffed birds that make noise courtesy of the BC SPCA. (Wild ARC/Facebook)

Give the gift of flight this Christmas with a series of stuffed birds courtesy of the BC SPCA that make noise.

Adopt an owl at the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre (ARC) and get a five-inch stuffed great horned owl to keep, as well as an e-card making it idea to give as a gift.

Injured owls often land at the BC SPCA wildlife centre in Metchosin after being hit by cars as they hunt along busy roadsides. Or young owlets are orphaned much too young to leave the nest. Before they can return to the wild, specialists ensure they’re healthy and able to hunt.

Every meal gets the wild patients closer to release back in nature.

A while ago, Wild ARC had a great horned owl in care with injuries that suggested that was just the case – it had been hit by a vehicle.

With a broken wing and head and eye trauma, it was in rough shape, so staff were happy to showcase a video in late November of its return to the wild.

READ ALSO: Naked and alone: Baby squirrel finds new family at West Shore wildlife rehab

The owl is $42 and comes with an audubon stuffed owl that includes the authentic sound of the species recorded live by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Other stuffies that make sounds include a $60 swallow or stellar jay, which pays for a week of care for a songbird at Wild ARC.

Anyone looking for a gift without the stuffed animal, can visit shop.spca.bc.ca. Other items range from buying an owl dinner at $12 a pop or hummingbird nectar for a week at $25 to the $122 a day of groceries for wild animals.

Wild ARC treats nearly 140 different species each year and each needs its own specialized diet prepared fresh each day. A day of groceries includes fresh greens, berries, formula, fish and seeds.

READ ALSO: B.C. biologist floats tips to keeping hummingbirds fed, safe this winter

christine.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca


Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroom@oakbaynews.com.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.