Thiefpouter sport in The Hague NL under pressure! Flying thief pouters was once immensely popular in and around The Hague. A national sport that kept everyone busy, even if you did not practice it yourself. All those lofts on the roofs were defining features of the city s skyline, and everyone had someone among their family or friends who was involved in the hobby. As with the sport of racing pigeons, you became hooked around the age of 12 and you never got away from it. Right: This typical loft, built out from the ridgeline, is in Delft. Below: This old photo (1955) shows a rooftop loft in The Hague. Information assembled by Team Aviculture Europe. Edited by Frank Povah. Right: This loft was at the PTT building behind the railway station in Delft South. The owner worked there, but one night all his pigeons were stolen and that was the end of his hobby.
Above: For many years, this aquarelle illustrating the thief pouter sport has hung in the De Zwarte Vogel pet shop in The Hague. According to their information, the print dates from 1910 and there are only five copies known. Below, left: Jaap de Klerk of Delft owns these thief pouters. They are his favourite colours: red- and yellow-pied. Left: Two lofts on the same roof, one behind the other. This was often seen in Scheveningen, a stronghold of the thief pouter sport. There were so many pigeons flying all day, it was hard to take it all in. Below, right: A common sight on The Hague roof-tops. The building code does prescribe them to be painted grey so that the structure does not stand out too much.
Left: A pair of Gelderland Slenke at Hans Diehl s in Nederweert. This breed originated in the ancient towns of Gelderland where they were used as thief pouters. There has never been written documentation about these pigeons until recently a book describing the history of the sport was published in Dutch and titled Lucht op plat. (See http://www.burobol.nl/product/lucht-op-plat/ The thief pouter sport in The Hague dates from the late 19th century, but it is not known with certainty where it originated. Remarkably, a similar sport is enjoyed in the Spanish province of Andalusia, and in Scotland. The object of the sport is the capture of another fancier s pigeons. To this end the fancier develops a special bond with his pigeons and sets a cock bird out to fly and catch a "foreign" hen, or uses a hen to capture a foreign male. This always involves a single pigeon, making it different from the version of the sport practiced in Amsterdam involving a duivenplat (a loft with a landing board and trap), and a kit, or group of pigeons. Each kit is taught to go and fly together with another group, and then, at given time or at a signal return to the landing board of their own loft. The aim was to catch as many pigeons of rival fanciers as possible, the captives being kept or sold at the Market. This game was popular in a number of other cities, such as London, Barcelona and the Italian town of Modena. We restrict ourselves to Europe for this moment. Right: The Dutch thief pouter is not a breed and has no standard with a description of the characteristics or colours. The bird s character and performance are the main concerns; the colours and markings are to the fancier s own tastes. In recent years, however, our thief pouter sport has come under strong pressure. In the 1950s you could find some 7,000 lofts in and around The Hague, but now there are no more than 700 left. And in Amsterdam, the last thief pouter loft, owned by Rudy Ottenhof, is now partially dismantled. There are many reasons for the decline of the sport. One of them is the problem in obtaining a license for a loft on the roof. Another is that the attitudes and interests of youth have
changed. Added to these, the old neighbourhoods in The Hague increasingly are home to people of different cultures, although it is only fair to say that many immigrants of Turkish origin are also quite active with their Takla Roller pigeons but that's a different sport. A final argument that is increasingly popping up in discussions concerns the losses inflicted on pigeon keepers by birds of prey; a complaint that has become increasingly common since 2012. You can imagine how the fancier, with that special relationship shared with his birds, is deeply affected as again and again, right before his eyes, his favourite pigeons are plucked from the air. His pigeon, flying so proudly, clapping his wings in an effort to catch the attention of another pigeon, is certainly easy prey for a peregrine falcon, ready to stoop and dive steeply at over 300 km/h and hitting its prey striking in the language of falconry. Please believe me when I say that I have a deep respect for all animals, for everything that lives and grows, but it cannot be right that one particular species is subsidized and encouraged at the expense of another, in this case the thief pouter, which we may say has proved its right to exist over many, many years. It is even contemplated that the thief pouter and the sport based upon it be included in the register of National Intangible Heritage. The last Delft thief pouter fanciers are still as enthusiastic as in the heyday From Delft op Zondag, Week 11, Volume 23, Sunday, May15 th, 2015. DELFT Jaap de Klerk spends hours each day in his loft at Tanthof, in the Delft district. Now 57 years old, he has been a passionate participant in the Thief pouter sport for 50 years. This is a game in which you try to capture another s Pouters with your own birds and,. like all sports, it has its ups and downs: In is a win and gone is a loss. It was once a popular sport in The Hague, but in Delft, too, there were many fanciers who kept pouters. Especially in populous neighbourhoods such as Wippolder and Westerkwartier, and there was no street without tils on the roofs. Alas, we are a dying breed," says Jaap. "The youth of today are not even playing outside, let alone keeping pigeons unfortunately. In the Delft district of Tanthof he knows six thief pouter fanciers once there were fifteen. "But I'm the only one in the neighbourhood with an original Dutch til." This two-storey loft is built next to his house and he has some forty birds in total. Breeding the Casanova of Pouters is no easy task De Klerk is trying to catch other people's pigeons. The reverse also happens. "That hurts," he said. "In this sport there have been many vendettas." Many began because the unwritten rules were violated, for example using glue boards to catch the birds.
Left: The very nice pigeon til (loft) of Jaap de Klerk in Delft. For those who want to play fair and square, there is more to it than just releasing a pigeon and hoping it comes back with a mate. This year De Klerk can count six captive birds. "If I catch one in a week, I am happy." But it is difficult in Delft today, with fewer pouters flying. I know a fancier in The Hague who captures 150 a year, but the interest is declining there, too. The average age of thief pouter fanciers is I think over 50, at a younger age hardly anybody does this." Right: Jaap s til with trap box. What's so nice about it? "It is, I think, like fishing. The tension. The object is to catch the best pouter of your neighbour, that's what it comes to. That could take two years, sometimes longer. And in that time your neighbour s pouter can also lure your birds. But if that bird finally lands on your til, your legs are shaking. Ten times it s on your til and flies off again. If the eleventh time it flies into the til and De Klerk successfully closes the trap, he is overjoyed, totally excited. In our lofts, we are enemies The Delft fanciers know each other and get on well together. "But in our lofts, we are enemies." Jaap de Klerk is implacable when another fancier comes to ask for pigeon back. "Then they come up with an excuse like 'it was my son s bird. De Klerk is not susceptible to such stories. "In is in and gone is gone. Then you won t get it back. Vice versa, if they capture one of mine, it goes the same." He can live with that. Something he doesn t much take to are the nests for birds of prey put up by bird lovers in Delft and its surrounds. A pouter, especially a young one, is easy prey for raptors. "For a pouter is flying very slowly, he is performing." Not just once has he lost his beloved pigeons to raptors. "With blood, sweat and tears you have bred and trained your pigeon. It hurts a lot when it is caught by a bird of prey. And they never strike a pigeon that you have three more like it. No, it s always the one that you have a close relationship with, one you have high expectations for though each pigeon is dear to me. So I got pissed off when I read in the local newspaper about the nesting boxes for peregrine falcons. I think birds of prey are beautiful, really, and it s good they are doing well today. But let nature take its course. They don t need nest boxes. I know fanciers who lose ten birds a year to raptors. That is taking all the fun of our hobby. If those fanciers stop, there are fewer remaining, and we re already a dying breed. It would be a great pity if the sport disappears altogether, says De Klerk. "It's a unique sport, which only exists in this region. Outside the Netherlands, you just don t find it; it s a kind of cultural heritage."
Peregrine falcons The peregrine falcon has become an indigenous species in the Netherlands since the beginning of the 20th century, only occurring on the Wadden islands and the Hoge Veluwe, and is among the largest and fastest raptors in the Netherlands. According to SOVON (Ornithology Netherlands), in the last century no more than 13 breeding pairs were known in the Netherlands. Since 2000 this number has risen rapidly to over 100 pairs, each pairraising about 200 young each year. Between 1950 60, there was a significant dip in breeding success due to DDT, then extensively used as an agricultural insecticide. Research, census and monitoring the progress of peregrine falcons helps in the interest of the ecological system, however, at a certain moment you might in the interests of other species consider taking a step back in the protection and promotion of a bird once considered endangered, but now cited as stable on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Left: The peregrine falcon. Photo courtesy of the Belgian photographer and falconer Rik van Lent. The peregrine requires two conditions to be successful: the availability of prey (birds) and a quiet, protected breeding place, preferably with an uninterrupted view of its hunting grounds, making church towers and other high structures such as abandoned smokestacks, ideal places. The nests erected by various bird care organizations, such as on the 90 metre-high EWI building of TU Delft, will be very inviting to peregrines. All wonderful for the expansion of the species, but this way an overpopulation of peregrines is to be expected, putting even more pressure on the thief pouter sport,, much to the chagrin of its practitioners. Below I have gathered some pros and cons. Of course everyone has their right to an opinion, but maybe we can take account of each other s ideas? Case studies, published in Conservation Letters, show that predator recovery doesn t necessarily equate with ecosystem recovery. Instead, laws designed to protect and recover individual species have led to conflicts with other species, and humans that share the ecosystem. (Marshall, K. N., Stier, A. C., Samhouri, J. F., Kelly, R. P. and Ward, E. J. (2015), Conservation Challenges of Predator Recovery. Conservation Letters. doi: 10.1111/conl.12186) Algemeen Dagblad, Angelique Mulders, 8 May 2015. Peregrines in The Hague and its surrounds strike so many thief pouters that many fanciers decide to stop. The chairman of the Ons Belang thief pouter club stated: "Our members are weeping as their finest cocks are caught by these bird of prey. For two years now, there have nests placed for peregrine falcons, and of course there have always been buzzards, sparrowhawks and hawks. But we say that
attracting peregrine falcons by means of those nests is fauna farming which destroys our beautiful hobby. Since 2013, we have been sounding the alarm about this. Guus Nieuwmans, Chairman, thief pouter club Ons Belang. Left: The 90 metre EWI building for the Technical University (TU) in Delft. On top is a nest for peregrine falcons, with a webcam. Over six months, researchers in Delft examined the prey remains left by a pair of peregrine falcons nesting on top of the EWI building of TU Delft. They found the remains of 20 birds ranging from songbirds to coots, and also of 7 pigeons. They do not know whether the pigeons were thief pouters, Wood Pigeons and/or feral pigeons. The peregrine falcon is the most gorgeous bird when hunting, even in freedom! For it to strike a pigeon is normal! (There are many more humans killed by other humans every day, so fix that and stop whining!) Whether the BirdLife Conservation organisations are doing the peregrine falcons a favour by putting up nesting boxes, you have to ask them. I personally don t think that this is contributing to the increase in these species. When you consider that species such as corvids (at least I think so?) are protected... then surely the birds of prey should be! So; LONG LIVE THE PREYED-ON BIRDS! LONG LIVE THE FALCONS AND THE PIGEONS! Rik van Lent (België) Bird Research Group Gemert/Volunteers working group Peregrine For the many volunteers of the Bird Research Group in Gemert (NL), obtaining and taking care of the images and cleaning the camera s field of vison has been a difficult, costly and very time consuming job. Working at great heights under sometimes bad and cold weather conditions, primarily in the midnight hours to minimize disruption to the peregrines, did not make it any easier. Preparation, consultations, and removing equipment from the tower, adjustments at the nest, creating technical space, waiting for special fixtures, meeting safety demands, replacement/relocation of equipment, etc. all with a total budget for the entire project this year of 13,000.00 caused many problems and delays in recent months. Without the subsidy from BirdLife Netherlands, the Forestry Commission and the sponsorship of many companies, plus the selfless efforts of many volunteers, the obtaining of the peregrine webcam images this year would not have been possible. The racing pigeon fanciers in Brabant also suffer huge losses by the raptors, about 20% of their pigeons are lost to birds of prey; recently a racing pigeon with a market value of 40,000was lost. The pigeons do not even dare to go outside the loft any more and those fanciers don t know what to do. A tip here is not to let the pigeons fly free at the same time each day. Birds of prey are smart animals that will quickly adapt their behaviour. If the pigeons are released afternoon at the same time, they will be there waiting, ready to strike. See also NPO research Raptors and pigeons in the Netherlands http://duivenvlucht.nl/nieuws/24-npo-nieuws/3772-roofvogels-en-postduiven-innederland.html (Choose your language, top right) Copyright 2015 All rights reserved by the Aviculture-Europe Foundation. This is a publication by the online magazine www.aviculture-europe.nl English edition ISSN: 2352-2445 You are not allowed to copy, distribute, send or publish these texts or photos without our prior permission in writing.