Vinkensport
Encyclopedia
Vinkensport is a competitive animal sport in which male chaffinch
es are made to compete for the highest number of bird calls in an hour. Also called vinkenzetting (Dutch finch sitting), it is primarily active in the Dutch-speaking Flanders
region of Belgium
.
Vinkensport traces its origins to competitions held by Flemish
merchants in 1596, and is considered part of traditional Flemish culture. As of 2007, it was estimated that there are over 13,000 enthusiasts, called vinkeniers ("finchers"), breeding 10,000 birds every year. Animal rights activists have opposed the sport for much of its history.
begins and ends the contest with a red flag. Every time a bird sings a correct terminating flourish to their call—most often transcribed as susk-e-wiet—a tally mark in chalk
is made on a long wooden stick. The bird singing its song the most times during one hour wins the contest. Champion finches regularly sing hundreds of calls in contests.
sport is waning in the 21st century. There is also a museum of the sport (Nationaal Volkssportmuseum Vinkensport) in the village of Hulste in the Harelbeke
municipality of Belgium.
Vinkeniers use a variety of methods to increase the number of calls in their birds. Techniques to develop singing aptitude include selective breeding
programs, high-protein diets, and stimulating them with music and recordings of bird song. As wild finches generally begin singing during the spring mating season, keepers may also use artificial lights placed in aviaries to encourage increased song.
Some vinkeniers claim that finches from the different regions of Belgium sing in different dialect
s; with birds from the Dutch-speaking Flanders singing "in Dutch" and those from the French
-speaking Wallonia singing undesirably "in French". The use of "Dutch" and "Walloon" to describe these two supposed types of finches has been suggested to refer to a simple difference in calling not literally linked to either the Flemish or Walloon communities of Belgium, and some linguists even suggest that "Walloon" simply means "foreign". While minute regional differences (a.k.a dialects) in song
have been observed in the Chaffinch (though not within Belgium), the differences have only been reliably distinguishable by the use of sonograms. Taxonomically, there are no officially-recognized subspecies of Chaffinch within Belgium.
the bird with testosterone
. After one contestant sang exactly the same number of calls in two rounds, the box was opened and a mini CD player was discovered within.
birds with hot needles in order to reduce visual distractions. Thomas Hardy
—the celebrated English author and poet who was also an antivivisectionist
and member of the RSPCA—is said to have written his poem "The Blinded Bird" as a protest against the practice. In 1920, a campaign by blind World War I
veterans banned the practice, and today the birds are kept in small wooden boxes that let air in but keep distractions out.
Modern animal rights
activists, such as those from the Flemish Bird Protection Society, accuse trainers of "brainwashing" birds into singing more than is natural or healthy by playing looped recordings of finch calls, and that caging birds in the intentionally small and dark contest boxes is cruel. The finch is a popular aviary
bird in many countries and it is forbidden in the European Union
to catch birds in the wild, despite vinkeniers purporting that wild birds sing better than captive ones. Though Chaffinch populations are currently not considered to be threatened, a 2002 court case at the Belgian Constitutional Court upheld a 1979 EU law banning the capture of wild finches.
Chaffinch
The Chaffinch , also called by a wide variety of other names, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.- Description :...
es are made to compete for the highest number of bird calls in an hour. Also called vinkenzetting (Dutch finch sitting), it is primarily active in the Dutch-speaking Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
Vinkensport traces its origins to competitions held by Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
merchants in 1596, and is considered part of traditional Flemish culture. As of 2007, it was estimated that there are over 13,000 enthusiasts, called vinkeniers ("finchers"), breeding 10,000 birds every year. Animal rights activists have opposed the sport for much of its history.
Description
In a contest, a row of small cages, each housing a single male finch, are lined up approximately six feet apart along a street. The close proximity of the cages increases the number of calls, as the birds sing for mates and to establish territory. A timekeeperTimekeeper
A timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time; in the case of the latter, often with the assistance of a clock or stopwatch...
begins and ends the contest with a red flag. Every time a bird sings a correct terminating flourish to their call—most often transcribed as susk-e-wiet—a tally mark in chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
is made on a long wooden stick. The bird singing its song the most times during one hour wins the contest. Champion finches regularly sing hundreds of calls in contests.
History and practices
The earliest known records of vinkeniers are from 1596 (with some sources advocating a slightly earlier 1593 origin) with Flemish merchants competing. By the late nineteenth century, vinkenzetting's popularity had diminished significantly, but it saw a resurgence after the First World War. As of 2007, it was estimated that there are over 13,000 vinkeniers breeding 10,000 birds every year. However, the popularity of this folkFolk
The English word Folk is derived from a Germanic noun, *fulka meaning "people" or "army"...
sport is waning in the 21st century. There is also a museum of the sport (Nationaal Volkssportmuseum Vinkensport) in the village of Hulste in the Harelbeke
Harelbeke
Harelbeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Harelbeke proper and the towns of Bavikhove and Hulste. On January 1, 2006 Harelbeke had a total population of 26,172...
municipality of Belgium.
Vinkeniers use a variety of methods to increase the number of calls in their birds. Techniques to develop singing aptitude include selective breeding
Selective breeding
Selective breeding is the process of breeding plants and animals for particular genetic traits. Typically, strains that are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding is sometimes done by a professional breeder. Bred animals are known as breeds, while bred plants are known as varieties,...
programs, high-protein diets, and stimulating them with music and recordings of bird song. As wild finches generally begin singing during the spring mating season, keepers may also use artificial lights placed in aviaries to encourage increased song.
Some vinkeniers claim that finches from the different regions of Belgium sing in different dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s; with birds from the Dutch-speaking Flanders singing "in Dutch" and those from the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
-speaking Wallonia singing undesirably "in French". The use of "Dutch" and "Walloon" to describe these two supposed types of finches has been suggested to refer to a simple difference in calling not literally linked to either the Flemish or Walloon communities of Belgium, and some linguists even suggest that "Walloon" simply means "foreign". While minute regional differences (a.k.a dialects) in song
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
have been observed in the Chaffinch (though not within Belgium), the differences have only been reliably distinguishable by the use of sonograms. Taxonomically, there are no officially-recognized subspecies of Chaffinch within Belgium.
Cheating incidents
As with other sports, vinkensport has had its cheating scandals, as well as accusations of artificial enhancement. One finch sang a record 1,278 susk-e-weits in one hour, and the owner was later accused of dopingDoping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
the bird with testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
. After one contestant sang exactly the same number of calls in two rounds, the box was opened and a mini CD player was discovered within.
Opposition to the sport
Throughout much of its history, certain attributes of the sport have garnered criticism. Early proponents of the sport would blindBlindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
birds with hot needles in order to reduce visual distractions. Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
—the celebrated English author and poet who was also an antivivisectionist
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
and member of the RSPCA—is said to have written his poem "The Blinded Bird" as a protest against the practice. In 1920, a campaign by blind World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veterans banned the practice, and today the birds are kept in small wooden boxes that let air in but keep distractions out.
Modern animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
activists, such as those from the Flemish Bird Protection Society, accuse trainers of "brainwashing" birds into singing more than is natural or healthy by playing looped recordings of finch calls, and that caging birds in the intentionally small and dark contest boxes is cruel. The finch is a popular aviary
Aviary
An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages...
bird in many countries and it is forbidden in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
to catch birds in the wild, despite vinkeniers purporting that wild birds sing better than captive ones. Though Chaffinch populations are currently not considered to be threatened, a 2002 court case at the Belgian Constitutional Court upheld a 1979 EU law banning the capture of wild finches.