‘Every bird knows its way home’ – a sentence that best describes Mohammed Al Johari’s passion for raising birds.

Once a household name as a teammate for Al Emarat during the ’90s, the former footballer is now the secretary of UAE’s Al Khaleej football club.

Al Johari has been nurturing birds as long as he can remember, admitting his hobby has comforted him many a times after he had lost a match.

The UAE national whiles away hours surrounding himself with birds of all breeds and colours, proudly stating his little pets no longer fear his

presence, while he in turn finds his sense of peace when he feeds them.

“I feels obliged to care for their needs. To me, they are souls with wings,” he confides, adding that he has also named his favourite birds.

One such bird is named ‘Abu Kara’een’, a hybrid that he states is a mix of a pigeon and a rooster.

He describes the bird as having a sense of grandeur, which is visible when it walks.

Al Johari believes that the world of birds is a wonderful place to be in, as it lifts the stresses that life places on one’s back.