The quest consists of finding five bird cages around the town and setting the birds inside free. For every cage opened, one small flashback cutscene is revealed. These cutscenes show Murphy Pendleton walking through a flower-covered field to find his son under a tree. The birdcages can be found in the following locations:
- Near Hillside Police Station, located on the porch of a house at the end of McGammon Street.
- Located near the Pearl Creek Bank at the intersection of Lansdale Avenue and Brite Street.
- In the Chastain Heights area, on the far west side of Brite Street near a fence and some trees.
- At the far end of Rice Street in the Pleasant River area, on the right-hand side of a barricade.
- In the Port District, at the end of a path next to the port.
- Murphy states in his journal that he pities the birds as he knows how it is to be locked up and restrained, therefore prompting him to release them from their cages.
- There is a glitch that allows Murphy to reopen the cages, which causes a bird to appear and fly out of the cage.
- Completing the sidequest unlocks the achievement/trophy "Birdman".
- If the player opens a cage during heavy rain, some rain will appear in the field scenes. Afterwards, the rain in town will be gone; however, the monsters' numbers and aggression will remain high as if it were still raining heavily, and the player must run indoors to reset this.