Wild bird rehabilitation aims to return injured or orphaned birds to the wild, but welfare during captive care and the ethics of rehabilitation versus euthanasia require careful consideration.
Wild bird rehabilitation welfare requires balancing the desire to save individual lives against the welfare costs of captive care and the realities of post-release survival. Captivity causes stress in wild birds - handling, confinement, and proximity to humans all trigger fear responses. Short-term care for recoverable birds is welfare-justified when release is likely. Prolonged captive care for birds unlikely to survive release may impose welfare costs that exceed benefit. Humane euthanasia of birds with severe or non-recoverable injuries prevents prolonged suffering. Window strike prevention through visual markers and cat bells on outdoor cats reduces the number of birds requiring rehabilitation in the first place.