Animal welfare is an important element of wildlife rehabilitation, and some countries use standardized protocols to ensure animal welfare is addressed during the rehabilitation process. In Japan (where the term "wildlife rescue" is preferred), no common management procedures prioritize animal welfare, especially for wild bird rescue. Approximately 90% of wildlife rescue cases in Japan are wild birds. To provide an overview of wild bird rescue and rehabilitation in Japan, and to collect data on rescue groups, a web-based survey and in-person questionnaire were developed and administered to 26 wild bird rescue groups operating between September 2014 and April 2018. The survey revealed substantial variation between rescue groups in terms of management protocols, feeding, medical treatment, and criteria for euthanasia. Only 26.9% of the groups consider euthanasia as an option. The more recently a rescue group was established, the more likely it is to have a euthanasia protocol. To meet the stated goals of wildlife rehabilitation, and improve the physical and mental health of rescued animals, it is important for standards of care to be established, ideally using criteria on par with international standards, to be implemented by each rescue group in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]