Pigeons outperform falcons for second day at Marmi Festival

Doha, Qatar: For the second day in a row, falconers failed to catch pigeons in the Haddad Al Tahadi Championship, part of the 17th Qatar International...

Doha, Qatar: For the second day in a row, falconers failed to catch pigeons in the Haddad Al-Tahadi Championship, part of the 17th Qatar International Falconry and Hunting Festival (Marmi 2026).

The festival is held under the patronage of H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani and is supported by the Social and Sports Activities Support Fund “Daam” in the Marmi Sabkha in Sealine. It will continue until the 24th of this month.

In the competition between falcons and homing pigeons, the pigeons emerged victorious in the fifth group. None of the falcons were able to catch the pigeons, which returned safely to their nests in Umm Abeiriyah for the second consecutive day.

In this context, Head of the Haddad Al Tahadi Committee Shawi Al Kaabi stated that the falconers in the fifth group were indeed unable to catch any of their pigeons, and Abdullah Fakhro’s pigeons prevailed for the second day. The number of winners in the championship and those who qualified for the final remains at eight falconers.

Al-Kaabi stated that it’s difficult to definitively say the falcons are weak or untrained. He explained that the competition involved the falcons pursuing and attempting to corner the homing pigeons, but the pigeons remained fast due to their light weight and rigorous training.