Iowa Parrot Rescue

06/30/2025

*NOTE-these birds are NOT in our building. If you are interested, contact information for the owner is at the bottom. Do not contact us in regards to this bird please. As always, there is no charge for adopting them or anything they come with.*

Mady and TJ and both around 23 years old located near Oelwein, IA. Healthy female double yellow headed amazons. They are both DNA tested female. They love fruit and nuts, and dislike any plain colored pellet food. They eat a wide mix of parrot food, pellets, and fresh foods. They do not have any special needs but they do need nail trims every 6 months. They see a vet in Waterloo for that now. TJ has a toe that points the wrong way, and we vet tape wrap perches as a precaution to prevent bumblefoot or irritation.
They would do best in a home that has a larger aviary or a large free roaming space. They do not tolerate being caged.

Mady is NOT able to be handled by men. She is extremely aggressive and will cause injury, this is not something that will change. Towards women though she is very sweet and will hold your hand, and sing and play games. TJ prefers to bond with men, but is pretty handle able if you have treats. TJ needs worked with, her previous home had her with 1 toy and 1 perch for YEARS so she doesn’t understand much about toys or food or socializing. Mady is much more advanced and has a larger vocabulary. These two have been together forever, but we understand it may be near impossible to find someone willing to tolerate one that is aggressive towards men and one that prefers men, so for the RIGHT home we will consider separating them. The ideal home will find a way for both birds to be happy and safe.

They’ll need a home that has experience with large parrots and preferably stay at home owners!! They do have cages they will come with but they like to have play time outside of them.

I can be reached at 319-238-2578
Please text, do not call!
There will be expected communication since they are such valuable and special birds to our family. Unfortunately, time is running out and we NEED to find them a qualified home as soon as possible.

06/25/2025

I'm very pleased to announce that once again this year, Doris Day Animal Foundation (DDAF) has chosen to provide a substantial grant to Iowa Parrot Rescue, which will be used to help with our vet bills. Their support allows us to give every bird all the medical care they need, without straining the rest of our budget. We really appreciate their ongoing support, as we do that of all of you who help us out. Thanks to Doris Day Animal Foundation and thanks to all if you!

06/23/2025

Some good news for everyone... This weekend we sent out Leo Umbrella to his new home, who has been returned 4 times since his initial arrival here. We are so thrilled for him and know this time it will stick. He's a great bird that was just waiting his perfect people and he wooed them all the way!
We also sent out a bonded pair of male budgies, which are already very very spoiled by a knowledgeable and patient owner. These kinds of adoptions are why we work so hard and have an extensive adoption process, because we know the right people will come along for each and every one of these birds.
As a general note-we are still closed to future adoptions and surrenders until we say otherwise, these were adoptions that were planned BEFORE we closed down and were already scheduled.

06/12/2025

Hey folks, Sarah here. We had a couple birds leave this weekend and a few come in, which we will post about shortly. We have an announcement to make regarding boarding, surrenders, and adoptions. For the next 3 weeks or so, or until otherwise stated, we will be CLOSING to all surrenders, boarding, and adoptions (except for 3 birds anticipated to leave in the next week).

As many saw, our Zazu Ruby macaw passed away on the 27th after struggling for over a week to maintain weight and neurological status. On May 3rd, Merlin Hyacinth was euthanized for similar symptoms at UW Madison after days of hospitalization there, following critical care and vet visits at the rescue. We did not post about Merlin as this has been an extremely difficult time for all of us... I tried, and failed, to come up with the words needed to tell you all. We felt like we failed him and care more deeply for these guys than I can express.
Hospitalization often comes with meds several times daily, sleepless nights, lots of phone calls/emails, and many vet visits, plus travel to Wisconsin. It also comes with a lot of anxiety regarding the cause of their decline and eventual deaths. Add onto that trying to keep our regular birds happy and healthy, plus general rescue operations... It's been a stressful few weeks.

While we don't have a complete picture of what's going on, we know that Fred BG (euthed 9/2024), Merlin Hyacinth (euthed 5/3) and Zazu Ruby (euthed 5/27) all exhibited similar symptoms prior to their extremely sudden deaths. All these birds had intensive veterinary care from the best but in the end weren't able to recover. Each bird also had a necropsy (standard practice for unknown cause deaths), all of which listed encephalitis as a major factor in their decline. Due to these findings, we have opted to temporarily pause boarding and intakes until we know more. We are anticipating closing for 3 weeks so we have enough time to answer all our questions and get results from our vets. We do have 3 birds pending adoption that are cleared to leave, but nobody else will leave until more information comes out, which will be updated here on our Facebook.
This is NOT something that is a cause for alarm or a risk to your birds if you've recently adopted, surrendered, or boarded with us recently. If it becomes a serious matter and there is potential for illness, you would be the first to know. We don't have enough information to say we HAVE to close, and we especially don't have enough info to say these birds got sick due to something contagious, but we really care for our birds and supporters and believe it's in the best interest for everybody if we remain proactive at this time. We hope you will all continue to support us, and are crossing our fingers that it's all just been a really awful coincidence and our birds are okay. We understand many of you may have questions and we will do our best to answer them as we can. Thank you.

06/08/2025

Hi, friends, Mike here again. More about volunteering: we got several contacts about it this week, and that's great! We especially need four or five people who can commit to a scheduled weekly shift. That lets Sarah and Casey effectively plan our cleaning and feeding work.

We also have a bunch of construction type projects, both large and small, indoors and outdoors. If you're handy with that type of work, we can really use the help. Just let us know when you can come, so we can have material ready. We have all the tools and stuff, and I can show what needs doing etc.

As we move into a new era for Iowa Parrot Rescue, your involvement will become more and more crucial. Please think about it...have you got one morning or afternoon each week to give to the birds?

https://www.iowaparrotrescue.org/volunteer-form

06/04/2025

*NOTE-these birds are NOT in our building. If you are interested, contact information for the owner is at the bottom. Do not contact us in regards to this bird please. As always, there is no charge for adopting them or anything they come with.*

These two cockatiels are in need of a new place to land. What we know is they're both males and seem to be bonded, but unsure of their ages. Both at least a year based on coloration, that is known. The bird in the second photo appears to be missing some toes, a common issue with new parent raised birds. It seems they're eating Zupreem and Roudybush pellets and enjoy singing along to music or Youtube videos. It's only been this pair in the home so it's unknown how they'll react to other birds, though cockatiels are usually pretty low key and easy to integrate into a small bird flock.
They are located outside of Indianola IA, close to Liberty Center. The owner can be contacted via this number at 563-340-0079.

06/03/2025

Hi folks, it's Mike. Want to talk to you about our need for volunteers. You all know that rescues operate mostly with volunteer workers. Right now, we dont have enough, which means that Sarah and Casey, plus the few volunteers we do have, are working overtime to keep things going.

We need people to help with cleaning, building, feeding...all the stuff that goes to running a rescue. Playing with the birds is part of the job too, and many volunteers find longterm buddies here.

I know it's difficult, with us being way out here in the country...but if you can spare a couple hours per week, plus travel time, you can make a huge difference in the lives of our birds. We're 45 minutes from Burlington, 40 minutes from Iowa City, 60 minutes from the Quad Cities, and 15 minutes from Muscatine.

If you can consider helping, please visit this page on our website for more info, and a form for contacting us about it.

The more people, the greater the impact. Volunteer today! Common Questions Why Volunteer? Volunteering is an incredible way to help your local animal community in a non monetary way. Rescues like Iowa Parrot Rescue rely on volunteer work to ensure our cages are clean and toys are made, which allows....

06/02/2025

We need some volunteers this week to put the mesh roof onto the aviary! Let us know if you can come help out and when, please. Mornings will work best since it may be hot in the coming days. [email protected]

05/29/2025

*NOTE-this bird is NOT in our building. If you are interested, contact information for the owner is at the bottom. Do not contact us in regards to this bird please. As always, there is no charge for adopting him or anything he comes with.*

Pineapple is a 3-4 year old male Budgie without a lot of history. The other 2 budgies in his original home died, but it wasn't made clear why. I was just given him a few days ago and he's really excited about my budgies so clearly wants to join a flock.
He was eating standard edition cheap budgie seed and is clearly not used to being handled. He's never had a cuttlebone or proper perches but looks pretty good despite that. Email [email protected] for info on adopting him.

05/28/2025

Remembering Zazu Ruby... Better half of The Red Devils.

These posts suck, but it's the reality of running a rescue that takes in a lot of neglected, malnourished, abused, and sometimes dying birds. They come here from all kinds of unknown situations and we take them as they are and do our absolute best to rehabilitate them in hopes of offering a new life. Zazu was one of our long term residents and not a bird we expected to be saying goodbye to so soon. Yesterday, Zazu Ruby went into Quad City Pet Care for a recheck since he had been struggling to maintain weight for a bit over a week. He was eating really well but couldn't gain anything and was in our ICU on heat and oxygen. Over the holiday weekend he developed seizures when handled, so medicating him became more risky. He was down to 930g from his usual 1300g and had already been tested for disease, so we knew it wasn't anything communicable. Regardless, he was becoming extremely critical. After his scans came back, it was decided that the best decision to make at this point was to have Zazu euthanized and end his suffering, according to those working with him. We will update this post when we learn more about what took place and how we can help birds through this in the future.
We will forever cherish Zazu's company and the funny relationship he had with Rocky Ruby. These two were a lively pair that have been together for 10 years, and even through Rocky's injury in 2021, Zazu remained a devoted and caring partner.

Zazu arrived here in 2014 after his family became unable to keep him. He was just 8 years old and had already been through 3 homes. He was ready to settle down... Pretty healthy, but behaviorally a challenge. It took him about a year to stop biting and resume normal scarlet nippiness. He's always liked women, but came to tolerate Mike's company over the years and could occasionally be handled by people. in 2015, Rocky Ruby arrived to the rescue after being given up for the 6th time in his life. Zazu instantly caught his eye and there was nothing you could do to keep them away from each other, they just HAD to be partners. These two were some of the most loyal parrots we've worked with and what a treat it has been to experience their lives together. Rocky will get all the same love and care he's gotten for the past 10 years, now without Zazu by his side.
He really enjoyed trying new foods, enrichment toys (especially those he could fit his whole head in), pulling Rocky's tail (leading to the signature curl), spearing food onto his beak so he could eat without using his feet, basking outside in the aviary, having baths every single morning after breakfast, holding his wing with his feet and hiding, being fed by Rocky, causing chaos, and lunging at people near him. He wasn't much of a talker and preferred to let Rocky do all that. Zazu was more of a "hide behind the scenes and jump out at those unsuspecting" kinda boy. The better half of The Red Devils may be over the rainbow bridge now, but we will never forget him and will always be grateful for the last 11 years of company and mischief. Fly high, Zaz. We miss you. 🪽🌈

05/27/2025

Zazu Ruby macaw and I (Mike) are at Quad City Pet Care. He's not been well and we're trying to nail down the cause.