Project SNOWstorm’s community of supporters has been amazing over the first few years of our research on Snowy Owls, and we are calling on your help again! This effort has, from the very beginning, been entirely supported by donations from the public, for which we are deeply grateful. We have the opportunity this year to lay the groundwork for sustainable, continued research for many years to come.

We’ve set a goal for this winter of $25,000 — a jump from last year. We’re not doing this lightly.

The funding goes primarily to purchase the GPS/GSM transmitters we use. Even with a significant discount from the manufacturer, Cellular Tracking Technologies (something CTT has provided since the beginning) the transmitters cost roughly $3,000 each. We expect to tag an additional 8-10 owls this winter (we’re already halfway there) and your support will help make that possible.

We’re also committed to providing critical initial bridge funding to bring a Ph.D. student to our partner, the University of Saskatchewan, where the student will focus their doctoral research on analyzing our extraordinarily rich trove of snowy owl telemetry data — the most detailed dataset of this species’ movements ever assembled.

And your support will allow our team of wildlife veterinarians and pathologists to continue the important laboratory work that is teasing out the environmental toxins like mercury, rodenticides, DDE and other chemicals that pose an increasingly significant risk to snowy owls and other raptors.

As always, any donation to Project SNOWstorm is fully tax-deductible, through our institutional home at the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in central Pennsylvania, a 501c3 nonprofit.

Donate today

Your biggest reward is knowing that you’re helping us better understand one of the most magnificent raptors in the world…but the perks are great, too!

Bucket of Lemmings

Get (5) Project SNOWstorm stickers to show your support for the cause! Select this perk (while it lasts) and we will send out the stickers as soon as we can! These awesome stickers sport the Project SNOWstorm logo (thanks PRBYapparel.com!) and measure 2″ x 5″, perfect to stick anywhere to show your support.

 

Put an OWL on it!

We finally have our very own Burly Bird SNOWY OWL sticker! These fantastic 5″x5″ round stickers feature a snowy owl on a dark background and are a unique reminder of the beauty of these owls and the importance of this project. Support us at this level and we will send you (1) Burly Bird Snowy Owl sticker and (5) 2″x5″ Project SNOWstorm stickers. Created by burlybird.com

 

Edible Owls

In 2014, we tagged a snowy owl in Pennsylvania Dutch farm country with the help of the Burkholder family — and when we were done banding we were served snowy owl cookies, made and decorated by Edith Burkholder with a cookie-cutter made by her husband, Mose. Now the Burkholders are providing a limited number of Mose’s handmade cookie-cutters, which come with Edith’s secret ginger cookie recipe and directions for decorating your own special snowy owl confections.

Feathered Facts

SNOWstorm cofounder Scott Weidensaul is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and generous donors at this level will receive a personalized, first-edition copy of his new book, Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean. This latest addition to the prestigious Peterson Field Guide series covers 39 species of owls — including the snowy, of course!

Unreal Snowy Owl