Yes Ive always thought keeping birds in cages is just cruel imo.
Open the cage and see if they stay around.
WhenI was a kid I use to keep pidgeons, some show pidgeons and some homing pidgeons.
The cage was opened a couple of times a day for them all to fly around free and the hatch for them to return was left open until they were all in.
Some of them would not fly very often really, they preferred to stay in the coup. Others like most of the homing pidgeons would fly for a long time and perch in a nearby tree. They would all come back in the cage though. What a life they had. Good food, a family to fly with and a safe perch for them at night, free health care, free rent, free food, what a life.
They would also nest and have young so they must have been fairly happy.
