FINCHforum

Anyone know where I can get a male grey singer? They are beautiful singers! Thanks!

hfinney - Hi, where are you located? I just went to a local bird mart on November 4 and one vendor has several grey singers for $35 each. And I agree, they are wonderful song birds.
Iso

I’m in Nashville TN.

hfinney - the only ones I can find on such short notice are from thefinchfarm.com in Vancouver, WA for $54.99 each (they call it the white-rumped seedeater) and birdproduct.com in Phoenix, AZ for $35 each. BUT you would still have to pay for shipping. Might be worth it if you order several birds or combine an order with some of your friends.
Good luck and let us know if you find one.
Iso

Thanks for your help! I have ordered from Finch Farm before, and they are awesome. I don’t mind paying for the shipping, but to be guaranteed a male, I also have to pay $100 for a DNA test. So that’s what makes me want to try to find one locally or from someplace that can guarantee a male. I want to hear that beautiful song! I’ll check out birdproduct.com. Thank you!

hfinney

Wow. A DNA test was $40 for my parrot. $100 is a lot! Do you have to pay for each bird to be tested until they find a male, or and extra $100 to guarantee a male?

hfinney - Somebody mentioned at our last bird club meeting that you can just send in a feather for DNA testing and it's supposedly less than $10. Wish I could remember who it was. If you are not in a hurry, I'll ask at our next meeting. $100 seems outlandish to me.
Iso

According to the Finch Farm website, when you order a bird that is not easily sexed, you can pay $99 for a DNA test. They send several birds to be tested at once to increase their chances of finding the sex you have requested. If none of those birds are the right sex, they send another batch of birds until they find one that is definitely the right sex. Then they ship that bird to you. It's $99 flat rate no matter how many birds they have to send to the lab in order to find your preferred gender.

I definitely want a male for the singing, but I can think of a lot of things I could spend $100 on. So I'm looking for other options.

Also birdproduct.com does allow you to select a gender for a grey singer, but there is a $250 minimum order for birds, plus $70 shipping.

hfinney - I left a message for a friend trying to find out who might do cheaper testing (still waiting for a response).
Too bad these importers and big companies don't put colored plastic bands on birds that are hard to sex (but I'm sure they don't have the time). With grey singers it's so easy to identify the males by their song.
Iso

PS: birdsexpress.net (Los Angeles area) also has grey singers ($40 each). But they also have a $250 minimum order.
PPS: Here is a link to a company that does DNA testing for $15.
http://www.healthgene.com/avian-dna-testing/
I guess you could order a 'male' from one of these companies and then have it tested. On the other hand you might know in just a few days that it is a male because it's singing...

You're very kind. Thank you for all your help!

I don't understand Finch Farms' policy on dna sexing for Grey Singers. They are impossible to sex visually, but if you put two males in separate cages but where they can see or hear each other, they will sing like crazy, trying to out-sing the other! All Finch Farm would have to do is go through a few birds like this, and they should be able to identify a male pretty quickly. $100 is outrageous!