SOLVED. YA Fantasy Action book about animals escaping a lab and being in an war. Read late 2010s or early 2020s. Spoilers?

[hkbbgs]

This part might include spoilers.
*Note: All "animal"s said in here are the same species, unless I state otherwise.
The main character is a male animal (I'm assuming a bird, as they were relatively small and could fly) and they, and their commune (? it was like a neighborhood of them) were inside of this testing box. The main character had conflict with another one of the male animals, who I think was stronger than him. The main character was one of those characters who aren't very strong but are smart. He realizes that they're being tested on by scientists (I'm pretty sure humans, but not 100% sure) and wants to leave the box/zoo-like (but much smaller than a zoo) place they're in. Lots of the other animals don't want to leave, as their lives are pretty much perfect for them. They don't need to hunt for food or water, and are taken care of. The main character gathers a group of people who want to escape, and they go through a somewhat treacherous journey to get out. Once they get out, the outside world is VERY dangerous. I don't remember the specifics anymore, but there was a war with another species (either another species of birds or a whole other species) and also traps set by humans. Lots of his friends died. I think there was also a plot point regarding his dad, and another regarding the sun (or maybe he just flew into the sun at the end). But I remember a lot of animals ended up dying from either the fight or the traps set by humans.

Some general facts:
- Fiction
- Unsure specific age demographic, as there was a lot of death, but I'd guess older teens
- Action
- Was definitely a book that was published more recently, as in at least after 2010 (my guess)
- May have been part of a series. If it was, I most likely did not read the other books in the series. (but not 100% sure)

Please let me know if you find anything similar, even if it doesn't fit all of the requirements. My memory is pretty blurry so some of it may be incorrect.
Thank you!

[Orsolya Könyvtáros (formerly Memp)]

A book with a similar concept is Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, but it was published in 1971 (though there are more recent editions with new cover art) and the characters are lab rats and mice, not birds. It does feature an escape from a lab, conflict with a stronger male (animal) character, and a dangerous outside world filled with threats of extermination by humans.

[Adele]

I have not read this myself, but based on the description and information from some of the reviews, could it be Sunwing or maybe the whole Silverwing trilogy? In Sunwing there is apparently testing by humans in a situation that some of the bats consider paradise and the main character searches for his father and there seems to be an on-going war with owls.

[Kris]

Google Books previews of Sunwing (book 2 of the Silverwing series) by Kenneth Oppel - Adele's suggestion:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=Tag...
- https://books.google.com/books?id=HWh...
- There are different cover images.

[Eskana]

Sounds like Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing series.
It's about a bat (so, something that flies) and they do escape labs, find a cult-ish group of bats who worship the sun, etc.
The third book in the series features the son of the main character, who has to go through an underworld that has to do with the bat sun-god.

[hkbbgs]

Orsolya Könyvtáros (formerly Memp) wrote: "A book with a similar concept is Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, but it was published in 1971 (though there are more recent editions with new cover art) and the characters are lab rat..."
Thank you! Sunwing is the book I'm looking for.