An injured snowy owl near 31st and Iowa Monday, Jan 2, 2012, was rescued by Operation Wildlife.

An injured snowy owl rescued Monday near a Lawrence post office has died.

On Monday afternoon visitors to the Jayhawk Station post office, 1901 W. 31st St., saw the bird fall and hit the concrete. The onlookers, who believed the bird hit a power line, called Operation Wildlife to save the bird. At that time, Operation Wildlife executive director Diane Johnson believed the snowy owl had just broken its left wing.

As it turned out, the bird had suffered serious internal injuries as well.

“He must have hit the power line really hard,” Johnson said.

The bird was a rare find in Kansas. The breed typically nests in the Arctic tundra of the northern most stretches of Alaska, Canada and Eurasia.

For Johnson, it was just the second snowy owl she has taken care of in her 30 years at Operation Wildlife.