"There's nothing wrong with buying or owning US-raised birds, if you take care of them. I have a Nanday born and raised in WV and he is happy."
Would you be happy living in a closet with bars, able only to take two steps in either direction, for the remainder of your life?
My Nanday is happy. He even got loose outside for 3 days and then gladly returned to his cage. I take him out every day and play with him. You got a better life than that?
Another thing is that if I were to release a tropical bird, he would freeze to death in winter, if he didn't starve to death or be pecked to death long before that. Don't believe the PETA line that all these animals should be released into the woods. If you believe that, release all your dogs and cats into the woods and let God take care of them.
First, my parrot cages are a hell of a lot bigger than that. *I* can comfortably fit into the cockatoo's cage (albeit a bit stooped over). It's so big I had to take the doors (of the house) off their hinges in order to get the cage in.
But even so, I leave my parrot's cage doors wide open whenever someone is at home (which is most of the time), and they're still quite happy being "perch potatoes". The most they'll do is climb up on top for a better view, but they don't have any interest in roaming or flying around the house, even though nothing's stopping them.
So their actual preferences don't seem to match your expectations.
I agree that there are many kinds of birds which it would be cruel to "confine" (for example soaring birds like eagles), but parrots aren't one of them. In a well-stocked cage they're as happy as a retired athlete in a Lazyboy recliner being served nachos and beer watching a widescreen TV.
Who ever heard of a bird-owner who kept it exclusively in a cage. Parrots are very affectionate.
Actually, I hear Sender keeps the birds in a shoebox with a brick ontop.
/sarc.