アマゾン songbirds compete in Guyana 'races'
By Girish Gupta
SCHOONORD, Guyana, Dec 1 (Reuters) - As the sun rises over the Demerara River, a half dozen men gather on its west bank, tightly gripping small 木造の cages.
Complementing the scenic beauty of the nearby palms and sugar 茎 fields, male finches chirp melodiously from within their 閉じ込める／刑務所s, affixed two-to-a-地位，任命する 大打撃を与えるd into the marshy ground.
"Everybody be out here to 演習 the bird, and いつかs we have a race," said fisherman Eric Takchand, a 関係者 in the centuries-old Guyanese tradition.
"We 料金d them, walk them, 演習 them. They love that," said Takchand, 54, who has been caring for chestnut-bellied seed finches, 地元で known as "towa towa", since he was a boy.
In 競争s called "races", the 勝利者 is the first bird to chirp 50 times. This takes just a few minutes, with bets 範囲ing from 記念品 量s to thousands of dollars.
The men-only custom transcends social and racial divides in the former British 植民地 on the shoulder of South America between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname.
For more than a half century, the country has been held 支援する by 民族の and political 緊張s, まず第一に／本来 between 子孫s of African slaves and those of indentured Indian servants, in a hangover from European 植民地の 支配する.
"All backgrounds and 宗教s come together, all because of one bird," said naturalist Gajendra Nauth Narine, a 地元の celebrity known as "Andy" at his home across the river in Georgetown.
"The chestnut-bellied seed finch is one of the 最高の，を越す songbirds in the world," he explained, as macaws and parakeets squawked in the background.
Takchand is proud of having raised his birds, which he 購入（する）d in the country's アマゾン 水盤／入り江 内部の.
Some birdmen catch their own in the ジャングルs of Guyana.
The practice, believed to have been brought over by indentured 労働者s in the 早期に 19th century, has also 設立する its way to the sizable Guyanese community in New York. There, in Richmond Hill, Queens, finches are often 設立する "racing" and 演習ing in Smokey Oval Park.
Birds from 支援する home are prized の中で Guyanese in the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs and 当局 occasionally catch people trying to 密輸する them in through John F. Kennedy airport.
支援する on the banks of the Demerara, Takchand and fellow birdman Ryan Boodho watch as their birds sing.
"This bird has become my best friend," said Boodho, 34, an electronics importer. "I was 申し込む／申し出d lots of cash for this bird but I have never sold it." (Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Gunna Dickson)
