[Xiciljed]

Weirdest hobby I've seen yet is in Belgium:

In a number of countries such as Belgium, the Chaffinch is a popular pet bird, although it is nowadays forbidden to catch the birds in the wild. In some areas of Western Belgium, finching (also called finch singing contests or finch song contests or vinkenzetting) is a quite popular sport. In a finching contest, a number of cages each housing a male finch are lined up, usually along a street. Every time the bird sings its song (which should be the correct tune!) this is marked with a chalk stripe on a wooden stick, and the bird singing its song the most times during one hour wins the contest.

Vinkenzetting, from the Dutch for finch-sitting, is a traditional sport played primarily in the Flemish regions of Belgium. Participants sit in front of caged finches and count how many times each finch sings a particular birdsong (most often transcribed as suskewiet).

The oldest known records of vinkenzetting are from 1593; however, it is believed to be considerably older, as the 1593 records were in a context implying that any reader would already be familiar with it.

By the late nineteenth century, vinkenzetting's popularity had diminished significantly; however, it saw a resurgence after the First World War, largely because of the large number of newly-blinded veterans who considered themselves unable to participate in other sports. As of 2006, it is estimated that there are over 13000 vinkenier, or "finch-holders". If that wasn't weird enough, during winter when chaffinches don't sing, these guys stick an MP3 player in the boxes and chalk off the songs off the recording!!!