Willowbrook seeks donations to help care for wildlife babies

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County's Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn is seeking donations of supplies, food and gift cards to accommodate the influx of wildlife babies it cares for during the busy spring breeding season.

A complete list of needed items is on the district's website. Donors can drop off items at the center or donate them through Willowbrook's Amazon Wish List.

The Friends of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County also has a number of ways to donate to Willowbrook, including adopting an animal and buying a commemorative brick. Donations are tax deductible.

"The center treats more than 9,000 birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians every year," said Willowbrook site manager Sandy Fejt. "We are the only publicly funded wildlife rehabilitation facility in DuPage County and one of the few in northeastern Illinois equipped to treat native and migratory birds."

In 2018, Willowbrook treated more than 3,000 orphaned spring babies. The average cost to raise an orphaned songbird or mammal to its release ranges from $150 to $300. At $350, insect-eating songbirds are one of the most expensive spring babies to raise.

Willowbrook provides care and medical treatment to injured and orphaned native wildlife and also serves as a resource for DuPage residents who want to learn how to live more harmoniously with wildlife. Its visitor center and outdoor exhibit trail are home to turtles, songbirds, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, owls, red foxes, groundhogs, raccoons, opossums and other animals with permanent disabilities.

In addition to caring for wildlife, the center welcomes more than 120,000 annual visitors who can take self-guided tours of its exhibits, nature trail and butterfly garden and attend nature-based educational programs for children, adults and school groups.