OTTAWA – Want to befriend a Blue Jay or a Black-capped Chickadee?  How about a Peregrine Falcon or a Great Blue Heron?  The Canadian Museum of Nature’s is giving Canadians the chance to take a bird “under their wing” in the new Adopt-a-Bird initiative to support public education about bird diversity and conservation in Canada.

Funds raised through the Adopt-a-Bird programme will go towards complementary national educational programming for the Museum’s new Bird Gallery opening on October 20, 2006 at the Victoria Memorial Museum Building in Ottawa, the public exhibition site of the Canadian Museum of Nature.  This initiative is part of the Museum’s Natural Partnerships Campaign, a national fundraising project to raise $10 million for new galleries and national public education programmes.  To date, the campaign has reached 70 % of its goal.  

Close to 500 bird species found in Canada will be handsomely represented in a bright and airy newly-created exhibition space. This tranquil gallery with 380 specimens – one of the largest collections of birds on display in the world – will provide an ideal setting for observation and study.  Designed to be interactive, auditory, visual and educational, the exhibition will serve as a life-size bird-watching field guide and is sure to inspire visitors of all interest levels to venture further into the world of birding. There will even be a section on how to care for injured birds, designed to appeal to children.

The adoption is symbolic; no live birds or specimens will be distributed to the public. Participants will “adopt” one species from a choice of 10.  Donors of $50 or more will receive an adoption certificate and an official receipt. Gifts of $100 or more will also receive an attractive musical plush replica bird and invitation to the annual donor special event. Pledge forms are available at 28 Scotiabank locations in the Ottawa-Gatineau area (excluding Kanata and Orleans).  The form can also be downloaded from the Museum’s Web site, nature.ca.

Along with the new Bird Gallery, three other floors of exhibitions will open on October 20 in the Museum’s renovated west side – the first major milestone in the Museum’s five-year Renewal project. 

In 2004, renovations began on the Victoria Memorial Museum Building for structural and mechanical upgrades, improved amenities, the construction of a south wing with a modern shipping and receiving entrance and, of course, new galleries.  The west side reopening falls on the Museum’s 150^th anniversary year.  It was in 1856 when the Geological Survey of Canada, the Museum’s predecessor, received its first funding from Parliament to create a national museum. 

The Canadian Museum of Nature is a Crown corporation and Canada's national museum of natural history and natural sciences.  It promotes awareness of Canada's natural heritage through permanent and travelling exhibitions, public education programmes, active scientific research, a dynamic Web site, and the maintenance of a 10-million-specimen collection.

More details about the new galleries can be found at nature.ca.