noise canceling headphones

I'm going to spend some time working in a cage with 400 budgies (parakeets).  I'm going to need ear protection.  Have you ever used noise-canceling headphones?  Would they even work in this situation?  Do they need to be plugged into something?

Edit: I'm fairly certain I'm just going to buy industrial earmuffs, like they use on construction sites and gun ranges.  It seems like they cost about 20 bucks.  But if you know anything about noise canceling headphones, I'm still interested.