In Glen Ellyn, animal doctor is in

Like every doctor, Jack MacRae monitors his patients as closely as he can every day. He has helped them with hurt limbs. They have come to him with head trauma.

They have even come to him with broken noses, er, beaks.

MacRae is a naturalist at the Willowbrook Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Glen Ellyn. On Sunday, MacRae led an educational program that focused on a few of his most popular patients: owls.

“We never have any difficulty filling this program,” said MacRae, who teaches the program every winter. “They are one of the most recognizable birds in the world.”

He was not kidding.

Area residents filled the center's classroom and became entranced when they saw different species of owls.

When MacRae brought out a large Great-Horned Owl named Tonka, who arrived at the center about 20 years ago with an injured wing, children in the audience gasped — as did the adults.

MacRae explained that all owls including the large owl, which only weighs about five pounds but appears much larger because of its thick feathers, have developed three very important physical adaptations that form the basis for the species' inclusion in the “night owl” phrase. Sharp eyesight, keen hearing and silent feathers allow it to hunt expertly in the night.

MacRae also talked about the center, which is one of the oldest in the country and took in more than 8,300 animals in 2010.

“We are a hospital for wild animals,” said MacRae, who has worked with the center 15 years and has worked with animals for 32 years.

He said he feels privileged to get paid to work with animals, which he has wanted to do since he was in first grade.

At the end of the educational part of the program, visitors get taken to a trail where the center keeps two Barn Owls in an effort to replenish the population of the endangered species. This portion of the center's work is funded by $10,000 state grants every two years for equipment upgrades. Once hatchlings are old enough, they are released and tracked by satellite technology.

But MacRae stressed that the activities are not the norm for the center.

“We are not in the business of raising baby animals,” he told those on hand. “We are strictly a rehabilitation center.”

Woodridge resident John Page visits the center twice a year, including a summer open house and the owl program.

“Every time, we learn something new,” said Page, who attended the session with his wife Gloria.

And that is the way MacRae likes it. He said he has given his two teenage sons simple advice.

“Find out what you want to do, and go do that,” he said. “I absolutely love this. I enjoy being able to educate in more of an informal setting.”