“Those little birdies won’t live for long.”
You are correct. They probably will not. Once an animal has lived in captivity with their food provided twice a day, they have a hard time returning to the wild and fending for themselves.
On a side note, once I was at a zoo and as we were viewing the bear habitat, a large crow landed in the bears fenced in area. That bear reached over and snagged that crow so fast that we almost missed it. The bear then just stuffed the bird into its mouth. Our children had been told in school that bears ate berries and fish and were shocked to see the bear grab a bird for lunch. Other parents rushed their children away from the viewing area in cries of dismay at that cruel bear. However, our children found it fascinating and we remained to watch the bears hoping for a repeat.
You are to be commended for raising such children. Good for them.
There is a good video of a gorilla pen and a clutch of baby ducks. All the little kids are “Awwww how cute all the ducklings swimming around.”
The gorillas ate every single one of them in seconds to the horror of the children. Mother Nature is a bitch.
https://youtu.be/WM53wfXZ13A?si=7IQljGFBFER6K4np