Bird-singing contests in New York fuel illegal smuggling of finches

06/25/2019

The male chestnut-bellied seed finches are judged on how fast, and how long, they sing when held beside each other in cages, stimulating their instinct to establish dominance.
Bird-singing contests in New York fuel illegal smuggling of finches

NEW YORK — Some bet as much as $200. Others wager as little as breakfast or a beer. The real prize — bragging rights and status — goes to the owner of the bird that sings the most vigorously during the competitions that kick off at dawn on Sundays in parks in Brooklyn and Queens.

The male chestnut-bellied seed finches are judged on how fast, and how long, they sing when held beside each other in cages, stimulating their instinct to establish dominance.

But this avian twist on “America’s Got Talent” has also fueled an illegal cottage industry: the smuggling of finches into the United States from South America.

Last week, a 39-year-old Connecticut man was charged in federal court in Brooklyn with smuggling nearly three dozen finches from Guyana into the country through Kennedy Airport. The 34 birds were nestled into plastic hair curlers and placed in carry-on luggage, which was selected for a spot inspection, according to court records.

He’s the fourth man arrested in New York on similar charges since April 2018, in what officials said is indicative of the persistent illegal smuggling of the tiny songbirds that can sell for $3,000 in New York City. The value of a champion finch can increase to as much as $5,000, prosecutors said. The man charged last Monday, Francis Gurahoo, of East Hartford, Connecticut, expected to earn about $100,000 from the sale of the birds, prosecutors said.

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