Hacker Cinema
Birdmen of Istanbul
Istanbul'un Kuşçuları
2012 · Film · documentary · 84 min
Directed by Naki Tez
Birdmen of Istanbul In Istanbul, aviculture evolved from hunting raptors in Ottoman times to songbird enthusiasts in the late 19th century, mainly among Greek and Armenian minorities. Today, a few residents maintain this tradition as a cultural testament.
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1 comment on Hacker News
If you're interested in this, you should definitely check out the documentary Birdmen of Istanbul[1]. Turn on captions for English subtitles. It tells the story of the residents of bird cafes in Istanbul and the very old tradition of goldfinch, greenfinch and siskin training for singing.
They're completely obsessed with birds, dedicating their whole lives to finding and training them. They have special vocabulary for classifying different bird songs. It's known to be a dying tradition as well but this documentary might have rekindled the interest.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5JVR1JlM