Enjoy a cup of java and save a bird's home. The first time I heard of the connection between birds and coffee was at Audubon Bird Camp on Long Island, Maine in June of 1995. Jeff Parrish, camp instructor, was a Ph.D. candidate with an interest in the ecology and behavior of neotropical birds. His lecture, entitled "Coffee Cups and Conservation," was an eye opener. When I got back to Wilmington, I looked for "shade grown coffee." None was to be found and I gave up.

Then in January of 1999, an Ellen Goodman column in the Wilmington News Journal discussed how "the fate of hummingbirds (and other neotropical migrants) was being linked to clearing trees for sun grown coffee plantations." My search was on again!

The article also mentioned that Russ Greenburg, who runs the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, was looking at the reasons for the decline of birds that migrate to Latin America for warmth and food during our cold and barren winter. Ellen writes that "since their old habitat, the rain forests, were disappearing, the coffee plantations were the most hospitable homes for the 150 odd species that migrate." These are coffee bushes grown under the canopy of a variety of tall nitrogen-fixing trees and up to 40 species of other trees used for household and commercial commodities such as wood and fruit.

Scot Shalaway (another Audubon Bird Camp instructor) wrote in Birder's World, June 1998, "It seemed the best of both worlds. Forest birds thrived in the canopy; coffee thrived below. It seemed too good to be true. It was! Major coffee producers discovered that by removing the canopy, coffee grew faster and in higher yields. Unfortunately, the cost for 'sun' coffee's higher productivity included expensive fertilizers and pesticides plus ecological devastation, i.e. loss of bird habitat and serious erosion where shade coffee plantations occupied the rugged terrain and financial loss to small family growers."

Scott goes on to report that, "Over the past 20 years, sun coffee has come to dominate the market. The switch has been an ecological disaster. According to a fact sheet published by the Smithsonian Bird Center, field studies in Mexico and Colombia have found 94 to 97 per cent fewer bird species in sun grown coffee plantations than in shade grown coffee farms."

There may still be hope because in the last few years, entrepreneurs, birders and small coffee farmers have formed an alliance to create a supply and a demand for "shade coffee." I have found a few places locally that carry it. One is Wild Birds Unlimited in Hockessin and the other is the Newark Co-Op for natural foods.

However, I would like to buy bird friendly coffee at my nearby supermarket. How about if we all ask our favorite supermarket manager to stock any of these brands of shade grown coffee: Songbird, Sanctuary, Canopy, Allegro, Frontier and New Harmony. I'd be interested in the response you get. My phone number is 302-478-1797. So, enjoy a cup of java and save a bird's home.

Tasting Notes: Coffee drinkers on Delaware Audubon's board conducted a taste test of two "Song Bird" shade grown coffee varieties. We tried Hazelnut Cream and the full bodied Costa Rican. 10 Board members participated. Of the six who tasted the Hazelnut Cream, all six liked it although several thought it could be stronger. Of the four who tasted the Costa Rican flavor, all four enjoyed it. The promotion of shade grown coffee is being spearheaded by the Seattle Audubon Society. They caution us to beware of brands claiming to be shade grown but actually are not. Seattle Audubon asks you check for bonafide brands by visiting their web site.

Editor's Note: Since this article was written, the National Audubon Society has begun marketing its own line of shade grown coffee. You can join National Audubon's coffee club by visiting this link.

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Last modified on February 4, 2004.