Alison,
Yeah, they DO come in pretty colors, but they are also available in black or unpainted.

I have one of those Guinness whistles .....it has an aluminum body Click here to hear it.....I think that the manufacturer also markets it as "the little Black Whistle." It sounds similar to a feadog . It is hard to control in the upper octave.

I have the same problem Alison ....I would love to be able to play one of those finger stretching Low Ds, but i have only two usable fingers on my left hand. So i play two fingers on the high hand and four on the low hand, and I just can't reach all the holes on a Low D. I have thought about mounting a flapper type valve on one to extend my reach.

Dan Mulligan