Pigeon breeders now face fewer challenges in Iraq

That the objects of his adoration are pigeons does not strike Abu Yousif as odd. In fact, he is one of the most respected bird breeders in Iraq, his passion rekindled after years of violence that made lingering on rooftops an invitation to be shot by a sniper.

"This hobby is in my blood," says Abu Yousif, who wears a traditional white dishdasha robe and black-and-white headdress, as he tends to his birds in his hometown of Zubayr, outside Basra in southern Iraq. He rarely travels, worried that he will not be there should any of his more than 100 birds fall ill. A well-tended bird can live 25 to 30 years, he says, and only he can provide the care they need; he even vaccinates them himself.

Abu Yousif, who has a real estate business on the side, has turned down immense sums of money to hang on to his best pigeons.

Recently, a wealthy breeder in a gulf country offered $4,000 for one of his favorites, a female roller pigeon, so called because of her ability to perform somersaults in the sky. "I didn't sell it. I won't, even if they pay me $10,000, because I love it," Abu Yousif says.

Bird breeding has long been popular in Iraq, particularly in the south, where the marshes offer an ideal environment for many varieties. Pigeon breeding gained popularity after the British invasion in the early 1900s, which brought in people from India, Iran and other countries in which the hobby was popular. But it has been a difficult passion to pursue in recent years.

Under Saddam Hussein, the country's closed borders made it a challenge for breeders to do business with those elsewhere. International sanctions and wars hurt the economy and hampered bird lovers' efforts to support their hobbies and their families. A bird with a sterling pedigree costs as much as $1,000 straight from the egg.

In recent years, the spread of Shiite Muslim militia activity in southern cities such as Basra and Zubayr hindered hobbyists. Not only did breeders risk getting shot while on the roof with their birds, they were also accused by some religious extremists of using their high perches to stare into neighbors' windows.

But militia activity has been largely quelled, and Abu Yousif and his friends feel safe once more.