In Qatar, the Ancient Sport of Falconry Gets Some Upgrades

AL KHOR, Qatar — Simply earlier than nightfall in a desolate stretch of Qatari desert, Saqr al-Humaidi slipped on a worn leather-based glove and readied his falcon for its every day coaching. Coaxing the hen out of the again seat of his Toyota Land Cruiser, Mr. al-Humaidi, 40, eliminated a spherical hood from its head and nodded to his cousin to organize the goal: a reside pigeon hooked up to a small pink parachute that, in flip, was tied to a drone.

Fidgeting with a distant management, his cousin launched the drone into the cool night air. It dragged the pigeon greater and better till all that could possibly be seen was a pink speck dancing throughout the washed-out sky. As if sensing a shift within the air, the falcon tilted its head, ruffled its pointed wings and took off in pursuit.

The hunt was on.

Each night, Mr. al-Humaidi, his 13-year previous son, Talal, and a handful of family members come to this spot close to the town of Al Khor, about an hour’s drive from the capital, Doha, to coach their falcons for searching competitions. It’s a ceremony of passage handed down by way of generations of his household, and a touchstone of Qatari tradition linking the nation’s current to its Bedouin previous.

Mr. al-Humaidi’s great-grandfather was raised right here when it was nonetheless a poor sliver of a rustic within the Gulf. He as soon as used the birds to hunt for small animals — including a little bit of protein to his household’s sparse eating regimen. However as Qatar turned prosperous with the invention of oil and fuel, one among its oldest traditions was remodeled as effectively.

Lengthy earlier than soccer fever swept Qatar, peaking with its internet hosting of the World Cup this 12 months, the game of falconry was a degree of nationwide delight.

As of late it has assumed a principally symbolic function in society. The birds are saved as pets and sometimes skilled by Qatari males — few if any ladies are concerned within the interest — for racing competitions with money prizes of tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in addition to new automobiles.

Because the migrant work power on which the nation depends has swelled, proudly owning the birds has additionally grow to be a kind of standing image, a visual means of figuring out oneself as Qatari in a rustic the place residents are outnumbered eight to 1. Practically everybody concerned is a Qatari citizen, Mr. al-Humaidi mentioned.

Within the sky above him, his falcon dipped and swerved, drawing nearer and nearer to the pigeon because the drone pulled the prey by way of the sky.

“See how he’s chasing it,” mentioned Mr. al-Humaidi’s cousin, Mohammad Ali al-Mohannadi, as he gently maneuvered the throttle on the drone’s distant.

Drones are a comparatively new addition to the coaching, launched prior to now decade or so, he mentioned.

Earlier than that, the lads would connect a pigeon to a kite and launch it into the sky for the falcons to chase. And earlier than that, trainers would take a sack of pigeon meat, cowl it with feathers, connect it to a rope and swing it in circles.

These days, the lads attempt to hold the hen in pursuit for no less than 10 minutes a day to strengthen its muscle mass. The quicker the falcon strikes its wings, the extra superior a hunter it’s, Mr. al-Mohannadi mentioned.

If the hen appears torpid, it could possibly be an indication that it wants extra observe or is drained from the day prior to this’s exercise.

“They’re like several animal: They get sick, they get drained typically, they go for quarter-hour in the future and the subsequent day we discover them down with exhaustion,” he defined, eyes glued to the hen within the sky.

Because the falcon snatched the pigeon, Mr. al-Mohannadi screamed “It’s performed!” and launched the pink parachute connecting the prey to the drone. The lads then raced to the place the falcon had landed to retrieve it, the useless pigeon clasped in its lengthy, curved talons.

Wrapped across the falcon’s ankle was a small bracelet inscribed with Mr. al-Humaidi’s cellphone quantity, in case the hen didn’t return to him throughout coaching and somebody discovered it perched on their roof. Stroking the hen’s nape, Mr. al-Humaidi gently eliminated a GPS machine — one other security internet — and rearranged its feathers with care.

Shedding one of many birds could possibly be costly: The very best racing falcons are value thousands and thousands of {dollars} and even these saved as pets usually run into the tens of 1000’s.

Mr. al-Humaidi’s falcon price him a comparatively modest quantity, about $2,000, he mentioned.

It was a peregrine, one among two sorts of falcons that dominate within the Gulf, and a species identified for its velocity and braveness, in addition to sensitivity.

“You need to take particular care of him, greater than with others,” he defined.

Because the blood-red solar slipped under the horizon, the lads packed up their blankets and tea and positioned the falcons again of their Land Cruisers. It was a relaxed coaching day, they defined.

In contrast to many different falconers, they didn’t plan to enter their birds into the massive hawking competitors that takes place in Qatar every January.

The competitions may be fierce and the coaching required grueling.

The occasion entails a collection of challenges that check a hen’s eyesight, velocity and searching prowess. In one of many contests, the falcons race to catch pigeons which were skilled all 12 months to evade them.

Final 12 months the pigeons have been so good that they evaded seize by each single falcon entered. The pigeons received the best to go on dwelling, and their coach took dwelling that contest’s prize.

Elena Hawat contributed reporting.