Updated

A ball hit by Rob Lowe during a celebrity golf game hit the Iowa state bird in mid-flight Wednesday.

The 43-year-old actor was hitting an approach shot on the fourth hole when his ball hit a goldfinch, dropping about 50 yards short of the green, The Des Moines Register reported.

As the rest of the players in his group broke out in laughter and applause, Lowe raised his arms in mock celebration.

"That's my birdie," he said after looking at the bird, which lay motionless on the ground.

"That's unbelievable. Who comes here and kills the state bird? Only me."

Lowe, who appears on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters," was playing in Principal Charity Classic Pro-Am at the Glen Oaks Country Club. He also starred in NBC's "The West Wing."