The Flock

Guyenese expats create community by “bird racing” in Toronto

“At the end of each week during the summer, a group of West Indian men gather in the outskirts of Toronto during sunrise,” explain directors Bryan Dickie and Robert Mentov, setting the scene for their latest documentary short. “They drive wooden stakes into the ground where they hang their custom bird cages and prepare their bullfinches to sing.”

"Bird racing" or “romping” is an underdocumented pastime in the West Indies—most prevalent in Guyana—where men “race” birds against each other. Two adjudicators stand on either side of the cages counting how many individual tweets and whistles each bird makes. The first to count to 50 wins.