I don't entirely disagree. The question of the ethics of ownership of birds feels a little more sticky than of say dogs or cats, mostly because birds actually tend to look closer to their wild counterparts. That said, any bird sold in a pet store - short of a wildly unethical one - is going to have been bred for captivity. Short of extensive naturalizing, they can't survive in the wild, especially not in these climates. The cages serve as a good environment to keep them sage and housed and fed.

[ ..... Cleo activated lecture mode she isn't even going to comment on the laser pointer yet. ]

Any good bird owner is going to have them outside the cages often enough, keeping them on their person, around the house, letting them stretch their wings. It should be mostly a resting place for sleep and for if you are transporting them or need to leave them behind. Actually, at this sort of pet store, if you ask they can usually allow the birds out of the cages to examine them closer...?

You're right though, that there's ultimately not a great excuse for them being around like this in the shop, prior to being sold. That's true of pretty much any animal in a shop like this though, for better or worse... we've commodified animals far too much.