Kabul's bird market

Dziadek od orzechow posted the photo:

Men trading birds, Kabul, Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, the keeping of birds as pets has long been the renouned pastime.

In an alley off an alley off an alley in Kabul, the single marketplace fills what seems to be the deep need for many Afghans. It sells birds of scarcely every variety, from canaries to doves to the birds of prey that Afghans love most.

It is the single of the oldest quarters of the Afghan capital, Kabul, where the concert that caters generally to bird-keepers is located.

The concert is well well known as Ka Farushi - the "Hay Market"

Ka Farushi is the narrow lane, lined with rickety sand section buildings.

It is located in the dusty quarter subsequent to the Old City's Blue Mosque, nearby the main bridge across the Kabul River.

This part of the city is the warren of little lanes where no cars can penetrate, so the air is filled only with the musical sound of birdsong.

In little open-fronted shops, shopkeepers sell canaries, bulbuls (nightingales), budgerigars as well as other songbirds.

Fighting birds have been additionally renouned between Afghans as well as there have been hundreds here for sale - big fighting partridges as well as smaller fighting quails.

The group will bet upon the result of the coming fight, with bets infrequently taking flight to thousands of afghanis (local currency).

While some shopkeepers here depend upon their earnings to make the living, others - quite the younger group as well as boys - mostly see it as the hobby.

Keeping pigeons is renouned - the graceful wheeling as well as circling of flocks during eve is the common sight in every Afghan city.

Entering Kabuls bird marketplace is similar to stepping at the back of in time the hundred years, to the corner of the city untouched by war or modernisation. Also w! ell well known as the Alley of Straw Sellers, its tucked away at the back of the Pul-e Khishti Mosque, lined with stalls as well as booths offered birds by the dozen, plus the occasional rabbit. King of all the birds upon sale is the kowk (fighting partridge). These have been prized by their owners who lavish good caring upon them, as well as keep them in domed wicker cages that have been roughly works of art in themselves.

Kowk have been fought upon Friday mornings in discerning bouts of strength (the birds have been as well valuable to concede them to be severely harmed), with spectators gambling upon the result. Their highly territorial nature additionally lets them act as decoys for hunters, attracting intensity rivals who finish up in the pot. Similar to the kowk is the budana, the tiny lark-like bird. These have been additionally fought, generally between Kandaharis. Unbelievably, their tiny size means that their owner frequently keeps them tucked in his trousers, bringing them out for competition as well as display. More benign have been the innumerable canaries as well as finches, kept simply for their song. At the far finish of the concert have been the kaftar (doves), the common sight in Kabuls late afternoon skies.

After: BBC, NPR, Lonely Planet