World Bird Sanctuary

Even on a cloudy day, Dakota the Swainson's hawk is having a good time. Swainson's hawks are long distance migrants who spends their breeding season in the western and northern parts of North America, and they spend their winters as far south as Argentina. You can see Dakota on our Avian Avenue with his roommates Blaze and Stanton. #swainsonshawk #hawk #birdsofinstagram #worldbirdsanctuary #wildlife

Our hospital has been busy with intensive care patients including these three, who all required blood transfusions due to a high load of blood parasites. Fortunately suitable blood matches were available for all and Red-tailed Hawk 21-231, Red-shouldered Hawk 21-232, and Great Horned Owl 21-234 are so far responding well to treatment. A huge thank you to our donor patients Red-tailed Hawk 20-468, Red-shouldered Hawk 21-054, and Great Horned Owl 21-160, as well as to all of our volunteers who are helping us keep up with the care of all these patients!

WOW!! Birds flying right over your head?? You don't want to miss our summer shows! WOW! A World of Wings! Thursdays at 6 pm, Fridays through Monday at 11 am & 3 pm! https://bit.ly/wbsWOW

Nothing to see here, just Beatrix the #RexRabbit having her breakfast in the dark.. We're still resolving a few power issues this morning but will OPEN AT 10 AM today. Thanks! P.S. Sound on for happy bunny crunchies!

Sprinkles said due to this weekend's "sprinkles", we are CLOSED today, Monday, June 21st due to some power outages from this weekend's wacky weather.

WOW! What an amazing sighting!! If you're not in the UK or have the means to head to the UK, you're more than welcome to come visit Dynasty, the #EgyptianVulture at World Bird Sanctuary!

How about Vroom Vroom?? Since we are finally cruising into the weekend!

Here's an important message from our Executive Director, Dawn Griffard, and our resident #SnowyOwl, Crystal. While we're excited about the snowy owl sightings in the St. Louis area, we want to make sure this species is successful throughout the winter, so here are some tips on how to be a responsible bird watcher when it comes to snowy owls. For a guaranteed spotting of a snowy owl, you can always stop by World Bird Sanctuary during the colder months to see Crystal on our Avian Avenue!

Our 200th bird release of 2020! This juvenile Red-tailed hawk came to us after being struck by a vehicle and sustaining fractures to her shoulder and femur. We also found 2 pellets in her skull from a previous gunshot injury. After a surgical repair to her femur, time in a wing wrap to heal her shoulder fracture, and reconditioning her muscles in our large flight, this beautiful bird retuned to the wild today! This is the first time in WBS’s history that 200 birds have been r...eleased in a single year. This landmark achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of our hospital staff, our dedicated volunteers, and the donations of our supporters. Your donations have allowed us to improve our care with the addition of x-ray equipment, an in-house surgery suite, stainless steel hospital cages, and a diagnostic lab. You can help help us save more lives by donating to our annual appeal at https://www.worldbirdsanctuary.org/donate/ A huge thank you to everyone who has made these 200 releases possible! We couldn’t have done it without you. See more

Join us for our 200th bird release of 2020! We’ll be at Katy Trail - St Charles North Trailhead starting at 12:30 with Willard, our educational ambassador Red-tailed hawk. The bird release will take place at 1:00pm. We will also be trying to live stream the release, as long as there is good connectivity at the site. For those unable to attend or watch the live stream, we will be posting a release video later this afternoon. Reminder that masks and social distancing are required. https://fb.me/e/3sS6HL82X

We are so excited to be a part of this fun challenge! Can you find all the Bows for Birds displayed this winter?? Norbert might know where at least one is!

Polaris the Northern Hawk Owl is ready for the cold weather! This species is found in northern regions across the world, thriving in cold temperatures. Polaris is one of the few of her species under human care in the United States. You can visit her during the colder months of the year, and she is kept behind the scenes in a climate controlled habitat during the summer.

The holidays can be hectic! So here's a self-care tip from Chrys the #CrestedEagle: take a nice bath, get your hair done, and just take some time for yourself and relax! Happy Holidays everyone!

Join us for a landmark event as we celebrate our 200th release of 2020! This will be the first time in our hospital’s history that we have released 200 birds in one year! We will be releasing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk shown below, patient #20-455. 455 came to us after both being shot and struck by a vehicle. She had 2 pellets in her skull, a fractured shoulder, and a fractured femur. The shoulder fracture was splinted and the femur fracture underwent surgical repair. The pellets in her head were unable to be safely removed, so they will remain in the bird for the rest of her life. Meet us this Sunday, December 13th at 1pm at the Katy Trail State Park, St. Charles North Trailhead to watch her return to the wild! Masks and social distancing are required to attend.

Happy Veteran's Day! World Bird Sanctuary would like to thank all of the veterans who have protected this country. Thank you for your service!

You come to us, we come to you, we Zoom to you - whatever works for you, we're here to do! Our Education programs are now available in a variety of formats! Now at even more affordable rates!! Call us at 636-225-4390 ext 1001 to book your program today!

Freya the Great Horned Owl is ready for owl season! Owls are becoming more active as we get closer to winter, their breeding season. They are starting to defend their territory again and hooting to their mate. Great Horned Owl males and females will sing duets together. You can tell the male and female apart when they hoot with each other because the females are a little bit higher pitched.

A useful help guide

The Silver Pheasants, Lafayette and Adrienne are enjoying the weather this week! With the sun shining and the temperatures up, it's a great week to visit the birds!