Sport bird
It’s a special event, where partridges are brought together to make the highest number of calls in a single day
By Muhammad Niaz
Sport hunting of partridges or small game hunting has been a hobby of many hunters to test their shooting skills. The roasted bird may be one treat for the hunters but the actual challenging hunt is a prime pursuit that many hunters look for. Small game shooting (in this case partridges and ducks only) is allowed under a valid license and a special permit by the government, only in shooting season – usually non-breeding period of wild birds (November to February) – as notified officially.
While sport hunting is only a leisure pursuit of some hunters in our society, possession of birds especially partridges is another prevalent tendency. Consequent of fulfillment of legal procedure, partridges can be reared and possessed to fulfill one’s love for and attachment to birds for personal satisfaction. As the birds not only call at certain times of the day but also serve as an aesthetic living object, their possession prompts many lovers who are willing to put in a major portion of their care and time in fostering the bird.
In fact, wildlife rearing is a healthy activity. However, one step forward is the sport activity in which the birds are not made to fight with one another but a calling contest among the birds is held where many owners, especially those of the black partridge, bring in their birds as contesting candidates to win the tournament with the highest number of calls in the single day event.
To arrange a black partridge tournament, it requires the organiser, who has good public relations and is usually an experienced person in possession of the bird himself, to float an application to the concerned provincial wildlife department for approval. Posters are printed, distributed, and posted on vantage points to convey the message more effectively. The black partridge, often known as teetar, is the favourite bird for the call contest, on the grounds that it makes more calls and is more good looking, and easily adaptable to be reared through small call contests among a few owners as a practice before taking on the grand scale provincial level black partridge tournament where more than 300 contesting birds are brought. According to Javid Shah, a black partridge owner, “A mega event in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa usually has about 300 birds, while that in Punjab has between 500-600 birds, while in Sindh usually 300-400 birds are checked in as contestants”. The names for the black partridge tournament are locality specific as in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa the black partridge tournament is known as Kaara, in Punjab as Chakri, while in Sindh as Chips.
Usually mid-summer is the prime time to hold the tournament as the birds are in their peak mood, ‘masti’, to make repeated high-pitched calls. A male bird is used for the purpose by virtue of its ability to emanate more calls among several other calling birds in the tournament. When deciding to hold a black partridge tournament in a locality at national level, open invitations are sent to bird lovers for participation in the event via post, cellular phones, and messengers. This is done quite in advance to avoid parallel events at other places, which will reduce the number of contesting birds in which case fewer numbers of owners of the birds will show up.
According to Haji Jehangir Khan of Kohat, “Organising similar tournament within 100 sq. km is undesirable. The birds get divided between two events and the objectives are not met – which is also marks financial losses at provincial level”. The event is mostly arranged on Fridays and Sundays to attract maximum number of spectators and participants in places like Peshawar, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, D.I. Khan, Kohat, Mardan, Mianwali, Bakkar, Okara, etc. The organiser of the tournament arranges for meals out of the entry fee.
The tournament has its special proceedings, placement of birds, and a panel of judges and munsif who observe the proceedings of the tournament, usually taking 3 rounds on knocked out basis. In the rounds of 10 minutes and 5 minutes, the birds making no calls are ousted of the tournament and the winning birds enter the final round usually held after lunch. Appropriate numbers of birds are allotted to munsif who are neutral and sit on the sides to count the number of calls that each bird makes under supervision of referees.
After compilation of the calls of respective birds, final announcement of the winning bird is made on the basis of making more calls during the specific period of the tournament. About 500 spectators witness the event and the clapping at the announcement make the winner usually very proud of his bird that not only brings him reputation but also a prize in the tournament in the form of a trophy and cash. A winning bird usually puts on record about 260 to 290 calls in an event. Besides, in wake of such declaration, the price of the bird also escalates in the range of Rs 50000 to Rs 100000.
To organise the tournament, the owner puts in a lot of time, care, and resources. A bird that enters the tournament is preferably four years old and raised in domestic care. A well-grown bird has all the prominent features. The bird undergoes training sessions comprising two hours outing in the green fields and local call contests among friends and neighbours. In the summer, special feed is provided to the bird including fruits, tomatoes, vegetable matter, almond, pistachio, sweets and barley in mixed pellet form. In the winter, barley is the main diet. To protect the bird from the winter cold, tight clothing around the cage is provided. A good quality cage to house the bird usually costs about Rs 500.
A bird’s good upbringing consumes a feed worth Rs 4000 to Rs 5000 per annum. The bird needs dust bathing for about 3-4 hours a day. According to Haji Jehangir Khan of Kohat, a black partridge lover, “A bird raised for this purpose attains a status of one of the family members and feeding cost of the bird is therefore, not a burden on the owner”. Medical treatment is mostly reconciled to local treatment as one of the best indigenous healthcare inputs.
Partridge lovers maintain, “It is a healthy sport that distracts people from other activities in the society”.
Black partridge is one of the game birds in the mountainous scrub tracks of Khyber-Pakthtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan. When the human population density was low a few decades ago, the birds flourished well in the wild due to an intact habitat. With an increase in human population, coupled with lack of awareness about its role in socio-economic and ecological development, biotic pressure contributed to habitat fragmentation and decrease in wild population. Black partridges had earlier been hunted and netted extensively, resulting in a considerable decrease in population. Now, with regularized hunting, they are making a gradual comeback.
Hunting and possession of birds is against law. Positive approach of people towards fulfillment of legal formalities for hunting and possession will contribute to conservation of the birds on a sustainable basis that will continue to render preservation of cultural values and ecological integrity in the long run.