Gunnedah Bird Sale 2001
On the morning of Friday the 6th of April 2001, I awoke at 5:00am and prepared to set sail for the airport to catch the 'red-eye' flight to Sydney. I arrived at the airport with enough birdboxes to make the centerfold of "Smugglers Monthly' magazine!!! Upon arrival I had to endure the, by now, ritual chorus of "What's in the boxes?" Having learnt many years ago what to reply I stated "snakes" - this tends to avoid any further inane questions!!! After a superficial check of the planes airframe for hairline cracks and missing doors we set off to N.S.W. Upon arriving in record time we had to play 'circle Sydney for 40 minutes' waiting for the fog to clear. Straight over to Hertz for my car and a great map of Sydney and surrounds.

Now you might well ask why this was a highlight of my day. Last year I requested a map well in advance from another car company and, upon arrival, the girl took me out into the traffic and pointed in the direction I had to go.!!!! Wonderful! Given this wealth of information I became hopelessly lost and ended up in Paramatta - nowhere near my intended Hunter Valley destination. Hooray for Hertz! I cruised out of Sydney like a professional and headed for Cessnock and the home of John Butler - well known to all good finch breeders. Once John saw the new hire car I was relegated to co-pilot and could sit back and admire the greenery of the scenery on the way to Gunnedah. I guess the trip took about 6hours driving from Sydney. We cruised along the highway and came to the only "Y" in the road - right to Tamworth, country music capital! Or left to the Gunnedah sale.


Official
Birds
More Birds
Upon arrival our thoughts turned to what would be available at the sale. As one of 17 members of the Namoi Valley Avicultural Society I was permitted to be in the hall and "assist' during Friday nights benching of birds. And bench they did! Grassies and rosellas in all shades of the rainbow. Beautiful pastel and lacewing mutations of the Indian ringneck, some fetching $6000 EACH! A fine representation of Australian parrots at terrific prices plus conures and mutation lories for those with larger wallets. The numbers of neophemas was down on the previous year. Suddenly, towards the door, there was a crowd starting to gather. Yes. At last! The finch people were arriving. Already it appeared that deals were being done and we wondered if ANY finches would make it through to the sale! After a few quick rounds of the sellers we earmarked some birds for the morning and set off for a few ales and an evening of "finch talk" with some good friends.

Parrots for sale
Avitrader Stall
Thompson Aviary Products
We arrived at 8:30 am on Saturday, April 7th, and found the hall was awash with people. There were cries of "Where the hell is Fred gonna fit his birds!" " Move that row up another 2 cages to fit in another seller." "I can't fit all my birds in that tiny space."- You get the idea. With military-like precision Greg and the other club members soon had the hall filled to capacity. What a sale! There were literally birds everywhere! I've been to a few sales but nothing compared to this. There were people from Cobar, South Australia, Broken Hill, Queensland, Bundaberg, Canberra, Victoria, Western Australia and I from Tasmania! The countdown begins. All of the non-sellers are ushered out of the hall and the yellow-shirted members of the Club inspect all cages to see that they conform to club rules.

Blue Opaline Red Rumps
Eastern Rosella Mutations
Pastel Indian Ringneck
The doors open and we head for the finches. 20 minutes later we actually GET to the finches! I quickly head to my 'bookmarks' and cash changes hand and my birdboxes start to fill. Any singers, red faces, cordons, blue-caps, masks and longtails rapidly disappear. I watch as green-cheek and sun conures sell for $1000 a pair. The parrot people can't wait to peel off the banknotes. It is evident that the sale is in two parts. By noon there is hardly a finch in the place and I notice a few finch sellers outside having celebratory ale - lucky buggers! I go back into the hall for "one last look" -my 65th of the day! I spy a bird box near the floor with a cock Melba sitting near the wire, as I kneel down to have a look at him I see two red-wing pytilia cocks hiding in the dark recesses of the box. Unable to believe my luck I rip my wallet out so fast that I nearly decapitate a nearby buyer. I take my prizes outside to admire them and immediately I'm set upon by finch people demanding to know where I found them and would I resell them. After grinning and shaking my head I'm assailed with taunts of "Bloody Tasmanians buying up our good finches"- lucky I've got broad shoulders!!!!

Pied Elegants
Cinnamon Galah
Blue 28 Parrots
Throughout the day there is a huge crowd in the hall. A mannikin makes a bid for freedom out of a seller's cage. A stallholder throws himself across the floor like a test cricketer and catches the bird and returns him to his cage. I look for John and see him having an animated "chat" with the man from Vetafarm- I sneak across and checkout what Bruce has at Petcare Direct. I head for a chat with Col from Peppers Bird Products and watch as his stocks of Greens n' Grains are rapidly depleted. Australian Birkeeper magazine is there. Incubators and brooders from Parrot Haven are of interest as is the professional display of Asiatic parrots from the Smith brothers. In the back corner is a man with seed hoppers from Toowomba. I ask does he ship to Tasmania and he replies "Where?!" A nearby buyer overhears and there ensues the usual 'two-headed Tasmanian' by-play. However, my standard reply for THAT 'joke' has his friends chuckling and him retreating with a dark expression. We get to the Avi Trader stall and sign up for a year and are impressed by the quality of the magazines displayed there. By 3:30pm the hall is beginning to empty and people start packing up.

Green Cheeked Conure
Bird Paintings
Our Motel Room
It is now that the 'parrot people' go into action. No one wants to take their bird's home and offers and bids start to fly. Bargains are had and the sellers become buyers elsewhere. Heard one seller had just sold a precious bird for a large sum of dollars so I said to him that he must be wrapped to pocket that cash. He simply looked at me with a wry grin and pointed to a very large collection of boxes on the floor. "As soon as I got her I spent the lot on all of these!!!!!!" He then looked suitable sheepish and said "Hope the missus understands - it was her bird!!!!".

Such are the tales from Gunnedah. Smiling buyers from interstate are seen everywhere! We head back to our motel room and admire the collection of birds which have now taken over the shower bay, toilet seat, wash basin… Judging by the parrot-like noises issuing from a number of other rooms our bathroom is probably repeated in 150 motel rooms!!!! Each motel resembles a bird shop as new friendships are forged and bird stories exchanged as bird keepers from all over Australia sit and natter. Following the sale there is a huge BBQ, which gives everyone the chance to exchange stories, and many 'trophies' are displayed. The rest of the night (early morning!?!) is spent with hardcore finch-locals and the Cobar birdos. Many Tooheys Olds and News are consumed and breeding secrets revealed (at least I'm told that's what they were!). Next day it was off around the aviaries and back to Cessnock.

If you are looking for a fantastic bird sale that is held by a dedicated, but tiny, crew then Gunnedah is for you. The locals are the friendliest bunch you could encounter (at least as long as you get your raffle tickets!!) and you will find yourself drawn back again - if not for the sale then for the atmosphere alone. The Gunnedah sale is now one of the benchmarks in Australian aviculture and I strongly advise everyone to visit it. In 2002 it will move to a far larger venue so go along and help to swell the population of Gunnedah once again! And let's hope that there are even more finches there next year. Just a warning - make sure you book your accommodation well in advance as there is very rarely any free rooms in town on that weekend. In fact we re-booked our room on the day of the sale for next year! Also the mixed grill at the bowls club on Friday nights has to be seen to be believed!

My thanks to the Namoi Valley Avicultural Society for an enjoyable and professional sale and to the Avi Trader for their sponsorship of the 2001 sale. The only thing needed to make it a truly memorable event is getting a major airline to offer discount travel!!

Written by Marcus Pollard - Copyright remains with the author.

Return to Clifton Finch Aviaries Articles!