A man and his bird

*photos to come*

 

Many of the men in Suriname have a funny little hobby. While in the rain forest they make an effort to catch little song birds. The smaller the song bird, the more machismo a man can claim.

It’s funny to see big burly men carting around a little bird with them on their bicycles, public buses and boats.  Many men take the birds around with them while they visit friends and do errands.  

There was a rasta man with  in our waggy from the city.  He had a small bird that he held on his lap for the whole of the 3.5 hour journey.  The bird even had a little bathtub in the cage, separate from the bird’s drinking water.

Two people that I've met here have seen children catch these birds in the jungle. One kid caught a bird by having one already in a cage hanging from a tree in the forest.  There was a stick covered with some sticky substance coming out from the cage.  When a song bird comes by to hit on the one in captivity they get caught and could not fly away.Another person has seen a kid hit a song bird with a slingshot, stunning the bird long enough to snatch it.

I must admit, when I first heard of this hobby I had pictured grown men in the forest trying to catch birds with their hands…I hope that happens because it would be funnier than the other ways I've heard confirmed.

Someone that I’ve met here has been to a weekly competition that is held for men to have their song birds compete.  Apparently the birds are put side by side and the number of chirps they make in an allotted amount of time are counted. The man with the bird who chirps the most number of times wins the competition.

The man across from Suzie Kay's apartment has 5 bird cages with little friends singing his manliness.  He stands in front of them with a proud look on his face, his shirt pulled up to expose his middle age belly.  His shirt is tucked up and over to make a cute little statement, much like I did when I was in second grade on the playground.