"Al-Mutairji" in Iraq .. From a critical hobby to a profitable career

Walid al-Musalh - Baghdad

The "horoscopes" are opened every morning on a daily basis in a time that does not change or fade away despite the successive years. I do not care about the words of reproach or criticism that I get from time to time of my relatives and acquaintances. "Al-Mutairji" Iyad Abu Anmar (57 years) insists on practicing His hobby is to raise the bathroom.

The spirit of adventure and competition has led him to raise pigeons since childhood, practicing his hobby on the roof of his small home in Baghdad's Siddiya district, staring behind his swarm of pigeons, isolated from the frenzy of life and its choking noise.

It is called the one who practices the hobby of raising pigeons in the Iraqi dialect "Al-Mutairji", which is composed of Mater in the sense of "who flies" and Gee, an additive that gives the meaning of "the owner of the craft."

"I inherited the breeding of birds from my older brother, who was passionate about him and was always there near his birds in the morning and evening," Abu Anmar said of his experience with Al Jazeera Net.

He said that since the age of ten years to now carries the same cost of his first hobby, and feel that the birds in his possession is his only breathing in a time of less comfort and rare friends.

Creation and education
Bird breeders put it in wooden cages called "towers" with shelves inside and baskets of palm fronds or reeds used for laying eggs and breeding, and external doors often close with special locks to prevent theft.

Iraqi millet is often considered a basic meal for the bathroom in normal times, but it changes when the breeding season ends in August and lasts for two months. The food also varies according to the bird itself.

The mothers of the pigeons that embrace the eggs called "Dayat" and do the task until the control and the exit of the chicks from him, while the father is the one who feeds the chicks and may support the women in the incubation of eggs.

When the chicks grow up and are able to eat, they are separated from the parents to acquire new qualities and skills that are not borne by the parents.

Rare types
The pigeon is different in its types and shapes and its ability to fly. This is what determines the desire of the breeders and amateurs to raise it. Some birds tend to color the bird like the red color of al-Baghdadi or the yellow "zirai" - which costs up to $ 3400. Used in racing.

Ghaith Abdullah, one of the owners of bird shops explained to Al Jazeera Net that each type of birds Huatah and lovers who are different age and social status of others, and that the season of selling birds has flourished during the summer vacation because of the demand of school students to buy them.

A sneaky look
Those looking at the sky of the capital today find it crowded with colorful pigeonholes that roam the horizon in the vicinity of their owners' homes, after being raised as a hateful hobby for its professionals. Iraqi courts do not accept their testimony.

Some families refused to marry her daughters to the tiger and looked at him as inferior, because of his constant presence on the rooftops of the house and his problems with his rivals and his oath of faith in order to hijack a bird after being drawn while flying from its real owner.

Today, this hobby has become a professional in most cities of Iraq, according to social researcher Alaa Al-Saffar, who confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that the spread of unemployment among young people and easy to leave the profession and the profits generated by the number of the number of enrolled.

He attributed the reasons "to the fact that our societies are still stagnant and did not catch up with modernity and the development of the economy of various political and international factors."

Special customs
Those who go to the world of "Matarijia" learn about special behaviors and customs that can not be overcome or jumped on to those who want to distance themselves from problems and conflicts. These laws determine the type of relationship between the owners of one profession in the so-called "war and reconciliation".

The prevailing knowledge is that the foreign bird is not returned after its hunting except by a sum of money equal to its value or in cases of reconciliation that are guaranteed to be returned according to the prevailing custom between the two parties. Otherwise, wars are fought between the competitors to restore consideration and preserve the name and status.

The breeding and breeding of birds is a popular folklore, but the birds that carried messages between cities and cities are now winning races, betting and carrying money to their owners.