Does Timofey catch these birds live or are they put in his home as freshly-killed meals?

Rima Johnson, These are quails. They are slaughtered and their gastrointestinal tracts removed (for food and viral safety) before being served at the prince's table.

The keepers try to hide the prey in a new place every day so that Timosha can hunt 😀 Quails are often placed on the branches of bushes, while rats are hidden under logs or buried beneath leaves. And sometimes, as today, in the hope of confusing the cat, the prey is left in plain sight 😀

Pavel Burov, Thank you so much for the information!  What a wonderfully thoughtful way of keeping Timosha's instincts alive and his life interesting even within a limited territory!