NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A park in Queens is the center of a hobby and infamous betting scene that, once in a while, draws the interest of police.
In April, a Guyanese man was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport for allegedly trying to smuggle in 35 live finches inside hair curlers, which were concealed in his suit jacket and beneath his pant legs.
The man was the third this year to be arrested for trying to smuggle the birds into New York City, and wildlife officials said the reason why is because the birds fetch a hefty price.
In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes finches can sell for $10,000 in the U.S. if they win popular songbird competitions that are held in Brooklyn and Queens.
“In such contests, often conducted in public areas like parks, two finches sing, and a judge selects the bird determined to have the best voice. Many who attend the singing contests wager on the birds. A finch who wins these competitions becomes valuable and can sell for more than $10,000,” the agency noted.
Finches from Guyana are believed to sing better than the species found in the United States, and officials note many are willing to pay top dollar to those willing to try to smuggle in the finches.
But, where are these songbird competitions being held? And who are the people that are holding these contests?
To find out, our Mike Sugerman headed to Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Park in South Richmond Hill, a rumored hotspot for such competitions, where he met a group of immigrants and their beloved finches.
“There birds are like one of the best therapies in America,” said Sharif Ramjen, an immigrant from Guyana.
He notes that while the finch competitions are popular among Guyanese residents in New York, there are many others from Suriname, Venezuela, Trinidad, Brazil and France that partake in the contests.
Shiv Sukrhah, another finch owner, says they all are animal lovers with a tradition of keeping pets in their home.
“Somebody might like snakes, somebody might like alligators, somebody might like tigers – birds are easy, there’s no mess and no headache,” he said.
Sugerman says there were no snakes, alligators or tigers in the park that day – but Surkrhah was there with his bird, named Magic Polly – which he notes wasn’t smuggled from Guyana, for as far as he knew.
Sheldon James says the group isn’t up to anything nefarious in the park, and to them, it’s just a fun hobby.
“It’s a group of guys that get together, they have their birds, and they come out – camaraderie. We share a buttered roll and some coffee, and we just hang out and just call our birds out. It’s a little piece of back home,” he said.
Jones says the sounds of the birds remind him of his childhood home in Brazil.
But all this talk about gambling and contests? Ramjen finally sang.
“You see how this bird’s singing? You put two together [to see] which one see sings the fastest,” he explains.
The first bird to reach 50 chirps wins – but Ramjen didn’t say what the prize was.
There were also no contests being held on that day, at least not in front of Sugerman.
Though, Jones says the high prices smugglers think they are going to get is completely exaggerated.
“They believe sort of propaganda. ‘Alright, I’m going to bring this bird, I’m gonna make a million dollars.’ And the media and word of mouth doesn’t help,” he said.
Jones says a simple survey of the scene will show it’s mostly middle-class, working men, who are mostly immigrants from the Caribbean and South America.
He asks: “Do you think we can afford to pay $10,000 for a bird?”