October 2015
Owlbert (and a friend) wing their way back to UCB
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The Big Hoot auction took place on Thursday 15 October to help the iconic birds find their forever homes.
The owls all went for impressive sums, from £3,800 to £18,000, in an exciting evening of bidding wars held in the Thinktank Science Museum at Millennium Point.
The UCB’s Principal, Professor Ray Linforth, attended the event himself and placed the winning bid on Owlbert, who was sold for £5,000.
Also, thinking Owlbert might need a feathered friend, the university also purchased another member of the painted parliament, TropicOwl, who was sponsored by Twycross Zoo.
The two birds roosted in Centenary Square together over the summer and will now have their permanent perches on UCB campus.
"Over the next week or so, Owlbert and TropicOwl will make their first appearances on campus. I hope everyone will agree that, in addition to raising funds for a very worthy cause, they will brighten up the campus and be a talking point for students and staff."
The auction raised over half a million pounds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which will go towards building a new rare diseases unit.