Shama Prices

I receive many requests to buy my shamas and it may be of help if I set out the letter that I write in response to a general inquiry.

Hi

Thank you for your interest in my shamas.


I keep shamas as a hobby and may breed only a few pairs each year.


My aim is to produce birds of outstanding quality - with excellent structure, strong character, musical song, and primary tails that are at least 12”.  Such birds are rare and are much sought after.  They are hardly ever found any more in the wild. 


It has taken many years to develop my present strain of shamas.  I would discourage beginners from keeping such birds.  They are more difficult to keep in perfect condition because of their long tails and they cost many times more than the shamas available from the shops.


My excess males usually go to friends and I hardly have birds for sale - perhaps 3 to 6 juveniles a year. Last year, I had no juveniles available for sale.


The price of a male juvenile, if available, is from S$3,500.00 to more than S$4,500.00.  To put things in perspective, I recently paid S$7,000.00 for a captive-bred first molt male shama with tails of 11.5", and this was supposed to be a special price to me from a fellow breeder.


Because of the scarcity of the type of birds that I try to breed, there is always a waiting list of buyers for my juveniles.  If you are still interested and prepared to wait, please let me know your budget and I will get back to you if I have a shama that may meet your requirement.

Best regards,

David

Shama Prices In Vietnam - Update, 24th October 2008

Below is the email that I received from Andy last night.

Last night I’d visited the Vietnamese forum to read some of their posts. I ran across one particular thread of pets shops that have birds for sale. From my reading, wild baby shamas that are still being hand-fed are priced about 8 to 10 dollars US each. Wild juveniles that have learnt to fly and eat on their own are priced about 10 to 15 dollars US each.

What’s interesting to me is that wild adult male shamas with tails 20 cm or shorter are priced between 5 to 7 dollars US only. I wonder why wild adults are cheaper then babies and juveniles! Price seems to vary between seasons………….like during the molting season since it’s difficult to catch wild birds……..price goes up and not many are available. Price goes down after the molt and during the breeding season…………during that particular time wild birds are plenty………therefore, price goes down a bit.

Here is a pix I gathered on the Vietnamese forum of a wild caught male shama just after being trapped with tails of about 20-22 cm long. One day I hope to be able to venture with those birds’ trappers in Vietnam just to see how it’s all done.

Shama Prices In Vietnam - 22nd October 2008

I don't visit the Malaysian Bird Forum all that often nowadays and I missed the post below dated 30 September 2008 when it was posted by Andy Doan. I came across it 2 days ago and wrote to Andy for permission to publish it on my blog. He kindly agreed, so here is the post:

Re: "Shamas From Vietnam"
by NDoan.
News from Vietnam:

Yesterday, I had a long talk with one of my friends over in Vietnam. Hadn't talk with him for months now! This particular friend knows a lot about birds.........he had been doing business.......dealing birds for quite a long time. He told me that currently..........shama of average quality tails of 25 cm + or around 10 inches will set you back about US$2,000.00 or more.....and there's not many around. He said that.....that particular shama about 6 months back was only about US$500.00 only....but with price and demand, owners can pretty much name their price. Price is pretty much for birds around HCMC........elsewhere might be a little less........but quite difficult to locate. I for one............and this is my opinion.........have always told friends and people I know if they like something or a certain bird and the asking price at the time might be high.............to get it anyway. Don't wait....because good quality birds don't come cheap.....while you debate over whether to get it or not, someone else has already bought it........and you will feel regretful......but it's too late. Many people I know.............had this happen to them all the time. I believe in this saying "good things don't come cheap and it's not always available". I believe you pretty much get what you pay for......unless you're extremely lucky!!!!!!!

Before we hang up............he told me that there is a wild caught male shama.....somewhat tame now, tails of 28 cm or more...........owner's asking price is US$5,000.00 ...........but not sure even if you offer that particular price that the owner will sell it. My friend said...........there is no guarantee if this bird will turn out to be of good quality because its not proven yet. All its got right now is long tails only!

Last night I received this email from Andy:

......... Now to share something else with you too David! For a couple of weeks now I’ve been curious to know where the longest tails shama currently are in Vietnam. There was a rumor of one in central Vietnam. I was only curious ………didn't intend to buy it whatsoever. From what I was told, the bird had tails of 30 cm plus… with a price of about US$5,000.00 or more.

I told my friends in Vietnam to look into it and if at all possible to provide me with pictures and video of it because for that asking price they should provide everything about that shama before an offer can be expected to be made. Last Sunday I got 5 pix of it………. I was also told the video is on its way but they have problems downloading it. Anyway, to my surprise those pix are of Ballet Dancer pairing video on your website. The pix were of bad quality………. They literally took it off the computer screen. Lucky for me………, I am very aware of most of your birds’ pix and videos therefore, I recognized it right away. You see David………..there are unscrupulous sellers everywhere trying to sell birds they don’t even have.

22nd October 2008
Hi Andy,

.... There are alot of unscrupulous people around. There was a person who posted a photo of one of my birds on a local forum and claimed that it was his. He removed the post after I sent an email. Then there is the birdshop that had the well-known photo of Ballet Dancer below in his shop window:



My friend recognised the photo but the shop owner insisted that the bird belonged to his friend who was using it as a stud for his successful breeding program. There are also sellers of shamas in parts of Malaysia that I have never been to who claim to know me well and to have sold long-tailed shamas to me.

As you have noted, shamas with long tails in the wild are a rarity and people who are offered such birds should take care that they are not being defrauded.

Best regards,

Update 23 October 2008

I received the following email last night from Andy:

Hello David,

Just thought I share with you those pix I got from those unscrupulous sellers trying to make a quick buck.






[To see the video from where the above photos were taken, go to shama.com.sg, then click on "Gallery", then Videos. From the list of videos, click on "Ballet Dancer Pair".]

Shama Prices(2) - 30th September 2008

In response to my post on shama prices, I received this response from a friend in West Malaysia:
Dear David,
I read in your blog regarding Shama prices with interest. I have lost touch of Shama prices generally. To me it is exorbitant especially the 8"+ and 9"+ Shamas. The 10" and above ones, I do understand as they are very hard to find.
Recently:
8"+ Shama (I believe possibly 8.4 to 8.6") bought for RM200 and was subsequently sold to a friend for the same amount.
Today, I am giving away one 8.2" wild caught Shama to a friend (I bought it for RM150)
I am not saying the prices quoted by your friend are incorrect. Just maybe his sources has been too well educated. I believe in K.L. the prices quoted by your friend would stand.
Warmest regards.

My reply:

Thanks for the information. I should have clarified that the price is not affected only by the length of tails but also by other factors such as the softness of the tail feathers, the structure of the bird etc. The prices are for wild-caught birds that seem to have the potential to be top birds. I also appreciate that prices will tend to vary depending on the locality and whether the sellers are used to high prices being offered for their birds previously.

My friend's response:

Yes, prices do varies depending on quality - curve tail, soft tail, nice posture, loud voice (at this juncture tak tak sound for most birds and sometimes loud songs from really fierce specimen that still retain their form despite being captured).

Shama Prices - 29th September 2008

Yesterday (Sunday) morning, I was discussing the prices of wild-caught shamas with a friend. He often travels to West Malaysia and has friends in several of the states who are knowledgeable about shamas. He told me that the price of shamas in West Malaysia has generally been rising. Also, it is almost impossible nowadays find a newly wild-caught male with tales of even 11" let alone 12".

I asked for indicative prices of shama males and this is what he said. The asking price of a newly-caught male shama with 8 1/2" tales (commonly referred to as an 8 1/2" shama)is about MR1000.00 - 9"+ will set you back about MR2,500.00 while the recent asking price of a 10" shama is MR6,000.00.

If anyone has information on shama prices in Singapore or Malaysia, please let me know by email so that I can update this post for general information.
David