I've had several birds shipped to me, including all three of my pet Galahs. They all came from the same breeder in Georgia and I live in Wisconsin. Shipping is really much easier than you think and causes much less stress to a bird than a long drive would. There are impediments to shipping, you can't do it in certain weather conditions, too cold, too hot. I have used Delta in every case but one, when I got a pair of Linnies from California and they went United. I've never had a problem. I do hear you on the not being able to meet the bird first and that can be a negative as well but for one of Jean's birds, I'd do it in a heartbeat if I was looking for a baby grey. She has an unbeatable reputation. Right now, several of my greys are in their 20s and if anything ever happened to them...well, I hate to even think of it to be honest with you. I would never even hesitate to get a grey, sight unseen from Jean.
Greys are getting harder to come by because the wild caught bird stock is running out and domestic males seem to have a hard time figuring out how to "get the job done"
. I'm not familiar with other breeders in the Texas area but you should be able to google parrot breeders in Texas and find some.
That's about the going price for them these days, unfortunately.
The only breeder I know of is Jean, sorry.
Yes, I wouldn't ever buy a bird from a bird expo or fair but going and visiting is always fun!
