BEIRUT (AP) — Every evening as the sun drops behind Beirut’s concrete skyline, Loubna Hamdan steps onto her rooftop and whistles. A flutter of wings follows. Dozens of pigeons — white, speckled, chestnut, black — circle above her, catching the day’s last light. Here, the 36-year-old office worker has found an unexpected refuge.
Pigeons circle above the rooftop of Loubna Hamdan and her husband Ibrahim Ammar, who leave food out for the birds in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Pigeons circle above the rooftop of Loubna Hamdan and her husband Ibrahim Ammar, who leave food out for the birds in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Loubna Hamdan sits on the rooftop of her building as she feeds pigeons at dusk in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Loubna Hamdan sits on the rooftop of her building as she feeds pigeons at dusk in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Hamdan never imagined she would keep pigeons. The interest began a decade ago through her husband, Ibrahim Ammar, who has raised birds since childhood. She admired how calmly they settled on him and how he always sensed when one was missing.
“I fell in love with pigeons because of the way he loved them,” she said. She scatters grain, checks the water and looks for any bird that seems weak or hurt. Ammar joins her, showing her how to handle them gently and how to read their behavior in the air.
As dusk deepens, the flock settles into the loft. “When the pigeons return,” Hamdan said, “it feels like home.”
Pigeons stand on the rooftop of the loft of Loubna Hamdan and her husband Ibrahim Ammar, who did the piercing, in Chiyah, where they leave food out for birds in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Pigeons stand on the rooftop of the loft of Loubna Hamdan and her husband Ibrahim Ammar, who did the piercing, in Chiyah, where they leave food out for birds in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Pigeons gather on the rooftop of Loubna Hamdan in Chiyah, who leaves food out for the birds, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Pigeons gather on the rooftop of Loubna Hamdan in Chiyah, who leaves food out for the birds, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Loubna Hamdan squirts water in the mouth of a pigeon held by her husband Ibrahim Ammar to help it swallow flu medicine on the rooftop of their loft where they leave out food for birds in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Loubna Hamdan squirts water in the mouth of a pigeon held by her husband Ibrahim Ammar to help it swallow flu medicine on the rooftop of their loft where they leave out food for birds in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Pigeons sit on the rooftop of Ibrahim Ammar andLoubna Hamdan, where the couple leaves food out, in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, at sunset, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Pigeons sit on the rooftop of Ibrahim Ammar andLoubna Hamdan, where the couple leaves food out, in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, at sunset, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Ibrahim Ammar gives flu medication to a pigeon on the rooftop of his building where he and his wife leave out food for birds in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Ibrahim Ammar gives flu medication to a pigeon on the rooftop of his building where he and his wife leave out food for birds in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Pigeons fly above the rooftop of Loubna Hamdans, who leaves out food, in Chiyah, southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Pigeons fly above the rooftop of Loubna Hamdans, who leaves out food, in Chiyah, southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Loubna Hamdan holds her Senegal parrot named Mango at her rooftop loft where she leaves food out for pigeons in Chiyah, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, at sunset Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Loubna Hamdan holds her Senegal parrot named Mango at her rooftop loft where she leaves food out for pigeons in Chiyah, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, at sunset Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Ibrahim Ammar, left, sits with his wife Loubna Hamdan, his father Salman and a neighbor as they drink tea amid pigeons that they feed on their building’s rooftop in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Ibrahim Ammar, left, sits with his wife Loubna Hamdan, his father Salman and a neighbor as they drink tea amid pigeons that they feed on their building’s rooftop in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Pigeons perch on the roof of the Dome City Center, known locally as “The Egg,” at sunrise in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Pigeons perch on the roof of the Dome City Center, known locally as “The Egg,” at sunrise in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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