Raptors are among the most frequently rehabilitated wild birds. Understanding common injuries, rehabilitation protocols, and release criteria guides both professional rehabilitators and the public who find injured birds.
Raptors brought to rehabilitation centers have typically experienced traumatic injuries that cause acute pain and fear. The rehabilitation process involves handling and medical procedures that are inherently stressful for wild birds habituated to avoiding predators. Welfare-conscious rehabilitation minimizes handling, provides appropriately sized and structured housing that allows normal behavior and flight development, uses positive conditioning to reduce handling stress, and makes honest assessments of when rehabilitation is unlikely to succeed and euthanasia is more welfare-positive than continued treatment. The decision to commit to long-term rehabilitation for a bird with poor release prognosis — versus humane euthanasia — requires honest welfare assessment rather than anthropomorphic reluctance to accept death.