Can anyone put a price on love? Bird enthusiast and Penn State alumnus Cyrus Klingsberg sure can.
The 97-year-old State College resident donated $250,000 to Penn State’s Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center in Petersburg to help create a new aviary so that others may share in his love of birds. Klingsberg’s gift hopes to honor his late wife, Vera, and raise awareness for Shaver’s Creek.
“I want to share Vera’s love for birds with a future generation by helping to build and sustain the aviary as a tribute to her memory, and to pay back a debt of gratitude to Penn State. I was able to build a career beyond what I anticipated from what I learned as a graduate student,” Klingsberg said in a release. “My other hope is to grow awareness in the community for Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. It is a beautiful place for anyone interested in the natural world, but a secret that is too well kept. People should know about it. I want to help create awareness for the enjoyment of nature and bird watching as a hobby for others.”
Both Vera and Cyrus enjoyed spending their time making many cross-country and international trips to go bird watching, including trips to Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Delaware, along the Eastern Shore, and living abroad.
Klingsberg graduated with a Ph.D. in geochemistry from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State in 1958. He’d later continue his career in private industries, nonprofits, and, finally, the U.S. Department of Energy.
“The impact of this gift from Vera and Cyrus is incredible,” Shaver’s Creek director Mark McLaughlin said in a release. “I believe Abby Flanders, the raptor program coordinator at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, summed it up best when she said the legacy of the Klingsberg Aviary will give the public the ability to form a relationship with nature, give visitors the ability to see wildlife in a new way, and Penn State students the ability to be a part of our mission and then carry it forward wherever they go.”
The Klingsberg Aviary offers an opportunity to see raptors in the Barron Owl Mews; Driftmier Eagle Mew; Butey Soaring Hawk Complex; and several other mews housing owls, kestrels, golden eagles, falcons and hawks, as well as Klingsberg’s favorite raptor at Shaver’s Creek, a black vulture named Matilda.
All of Shaver’s Creek’s raptors are from rehabilitation centers and have permanent disabilities that prevent them from returning to the wild.
Shaver’s Creek reopened for the spring season on January 26. Visit its website to learn more about upcoming visiting hours, programs and events.
