Midwest Iowa Chapter Owl Sanctuary

03/17/2026

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Beau Thomas! 🍀🦉

Hope your day is owl kinds of lucky, your drinks are green, and your shamrocks bring you hoo-ge fortune. Don’t get into too much trouble… or you might end up with a real hoot of a story tomorrow!

Thank you to a fan of the page for the picture.

03/07/2026

Even the police can show a little owl-kindness once in a while. 🦉🚓

Big shoutout to the Norwalk officers who helped make sure this owl was safe until the rehab folks could step in. Moments like this remind us that protecting the community sometimes means protecting the wildlife too.

And Beau Thomas… looks like the police were keeping a close owl-eye on things today. You might want to stay on your best beak-havior. 🦉

Thanks to everyone who helps watch over our feathered friends!

02/17/2026

Beau, you might wanna owl-ways watch your back… because this one looks like it gives a real hoot about causing trouble. 😏

02/08/2026

Huge thank you to our follower for talon-ting us with this absolute hoot of a photo! 🦉📸

And let’s talk about Beau in this pic—keeping a sharp eye on things and proving he’s always owl-ert, owl-ways ready, and clearly not someone you want to ruffle feathers with. 😎

This one really flew straight into our favorites. We’re owl-fully grateful for the support and the laughs. Keep the great owl content coming—we’re all eyes! 👀🦉

01/25/2026

Look Beau Thomas Owls and Law Enforcement can get along.

New York Trooper gives a hoot, rescues injured owl on Interstate 81 median... Read more at www.statetroopers.org

01/04/2026

This is the moment it all began.
After a surprise encounter like this, it’s understandable how Beau Thomas developed a deep-rooted fear (and mild distrust) of owls. 🦉
With patience, support, and maybe some protective headgear, we’re confident he can overcome his fears—one owl at a time.

Photo credit to a fan of the page.

01/02/2026

🦉 “Hoot Hoot! Have an Owl-standing New Year!” 🎆

12/28/2025

Please keep Delilah in your thoughts, she is fighting for her life.

We admitted Delilah on Monday, Dec 22nd, she was found sitting in a field near West Des Moines. Typically this time of year, and when we admit Trumpeter swans, it's due to trauma from being hit by a car or running into a power line, or lead poisoning.

Since there were no signs of trauma, we quickly tested her for lead, and yes, she was positive. On Wednesday we traveled to our colleagues at Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, Inc. to do X-rays. If a swan tests positive for lead, we then need to determine if the lead is still in their body. Good news, no lead detected on X-ray.

However, our hearts sank when we noticed a slight cloudiness to her eyes, this can be a sign of HPAI, commonly known as bird flu.

We had already set her up in quarantine, since our area is currently being hit hard with avian flu, and the area she was found, had several reported cases. Our protocol is to quarantine 5-7 days and watch for any signs or symptoms. We are also sending in a sample for testing, but due to the holiday we will not know results until next week.

Christmas Day she seemed ok, quiet but strong. Friday she was showing some neurological signs, but sometimes lead poisoning can present like this too. However, this morning she is worse.

Both lead poisoning and HPAI are deadly, but not 100% fatal, so we are also fighting for her. We will continue treatment for lead toxicity and give supportive care to help her fight the flu.

Your year end donation is also part of the fight. The lead medication is expensive, the space needed to keep her safe and the other birds in our care safe is complicated, and time to give fluids, tube feed, and administer medicine is all part of her care.

We have 5 more days until the end of the year, please consider a tax deductible contribution that will help us fight for Delilah's life.

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/ibrfundraiser/event/matchinggift

Donations can also be sent to:
Iowa Bird Rehabilitation
3108 49th St
Des Moines, IA 50310

12/24/2025

🎄🦉 Merry Christmas from the Midwest Iowa Owl Sanctuary! 🦉🎄

We’re owl-ways so grateful for your support—thanks to you, this season has been a real hoot! As the snow falls and the nights grow longer, we hope your holidays are filled with owl-tidings of comfort, joy, and plenty of cozy moments.

From all of us (and our feathered friends) here in Iowa, have a talon-tastic Christmas and a wise and wonderful New Year!

12/23/2025

What a wonderful tree topper. Well done Webster County Conservation. What do you think of this tree Beau Thomas

08/16/2025

Big shoutout to the Food Cop 🦉🍩 — thank you for keeping the fair food in check and watching out for the people! We appreciate all you do!