buluta dönüşüp birlikte hareket ederler. Her kuşçu, kaç metre öteden kendi kuşunu bilir. Kayıp vermeden evine dönenler, o evin sadık kuşlarıdır. Bu uçuşlar sırasında her kuşçu başka kömeden bir veya birkaç kuşu, kendilerinkine katıp getiren kuşların arasından indirip yakalayabilir. Tuttuğu bu kuşu bir daha eski sahibine vermez. Yabancı kuş fırsat bulup tekrar gitmesin diye kanatlarından iple bağlanıp birkaç gün hapsedebilir veya dişi bir kuşla yan yana konulur. Maksat; garip kuşun, yeni yerine ve yeni sahibine alışmasıdır. Yıllardır babadan oğula geçen bir gelenek, bir ‘merak’tır kuşçuluk Urfa’da... Bu soylu, halis kuşlarla huzur bulurlar, Urfa semalarında birlikte kanat çırparlar. 118 SKYLIFE 5 /2 0 0 7
U rfa'da kuşlar sabah ve öğleden sonra olm ak üzere iki kere uçurulur. Sahiplerinin işaretiyle ‘karışm a’ zam anı başlar. The pigeons in Urfa are released tw ice a day, once in the m orning and again in the late afternoon. The ‘m ixer’ com m ences at a signal from their owners.
for example, be a runway where the birds can land. When releasing the birds from the ro o f into the air, the birder uses a pole made o f a long, flat piece o f w ood with a square o f cloth attached at one end. When the pole is waved, the birds take flight. This happens once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. They usually fly över the house, tracing wide circles at a height o f 40-50 meters över the roof. Occasionally coming together with other groups o f birds, they can soar to heights o f 100-200 meters. Seeing the skies över Urfa at this time o f day is a sight not to be missed, because you will never tire o f watching the birds. Like je ts in an air show, they swoop pa st each other in flyovers, forming ‘clo u d s’ o f birds that move as one.
Every birder knows his own birds from several meters away. Those who return home safely are the loyal birds o f that house. During these flights, every birder nevertheless manages to bring down and capture one or more birds that have joined his from another flock. Once captured, no bird is returned to its owner. To prevent the new bird from escaping, it is either bound for a few days with a piece o f string or placed next to a female. The point being that the new bird get accustom ed to its new home and owner. İn Urfa the hobby o f pigeon fancying is traditionally passed down from fathers to sons, who find inner peace in vvatching these noble birds and communing with them to beat their wings in the skies över Urfa. □