A Snowy Owl is on the mend at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center after suffering serious injuries after being struck by a vehicle. (Willowbrook Wildlife Center photo)

A beautiful snowy owl is on the mend at the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s Willowbrook Wildlife Center after apparently being struck by a vehicle in late December.

The owl, believed to be a male, was brought to Willowbrook on Dec. 29 after it was found hobbling in a cornfield near a roadway in Joliet. A veterinary examination revealed the owl had a fractured left wing, and much of the skin and feathers had been ripped away from his abdomen, hip and near his tail.

The owl is now in Willowbrook’s Raptor Flight Facility, an enclosed flight loop, where it is regaining its strength and stamina. Wildlife specialist Rose Augustine said the owl is expected to be released back into the wild in a few weeks.

The District’s Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn is the only publicly funded facility in DuPage County and one of the few in northeastern Illinois equipped to treat native and migratory birds. The center treats more than 8,700 birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians a year.