The search for the perfect hunt: the culture of breeding curiós and competitions with the bird in the Brazilian Amazon

• Autor(a) principal: Campos, Shirley Fernanda de Almeida
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Outros Autores: Gomes, Felipe Bittioli Rodrigues
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Acta Scientiarum. Human and Social Sciences (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/ActaSciHumanSocSci/article/view/70442
• topic: pets; bird hunting; bird competition; curió-preseiro; Sporophilaangolensis.; animais de estimação; caça de aves; competição de aves; curió-preseiro; Sporophilaangolensis.

Cultural aspects motivate the creation of wild birds as pets, a common practice in the Amazon. The curió species (Sporophilaangolensis) stands out as one of the most kept as pets in the North of Brazil, mainly due to its ability after training to be used to hunt other free-ranging birds. Individuals of the species that, when vocalizing, manage to attract other birds and develop the ability to capture other birds, are called curiós-preseiros in the Amazon region. Breeders of curiós-preseiros began to use the species for hunting and also in championships, where the bird that demonstrates the best performance such as speed and dexterity when seizing the opponent wins the dispute. This study aimed to obtain information about the relationship between humans and curió by breeders of the species and describe how curió-preseiro competitions take place in an Amazonian setting. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with curió breeders from the municipalities of Altamira and Brazil Novo, southwest of Pará, where breeding and championships using the species are traditional. Qualitative data were discussed through content analysis. 20 people were interviewed, most of them men (90%). As a result, we describe how the hunting championships take place, which take place through videos of the moment of capture, shared in specific groups on social media, where the sale prices of champion birds reach up to R$30,000. Thus, we provide relevant information on cultural and social aspects regarding the creation of the species in the region.