Saving Birds Thru Habitat has, from its beginning, worked to encourage people to help preserve wintering habitat for migrating songbirds by purchasing organically grown “shade” coffee. Several years ago, it was encouraging to see that companies such as Wal-Mart and Starbucks were offering such bird-friendly products. Recently, however, Wal-Mart, McDonalds and Starbucks have been driving down the premium paid for organically certified products, including coffee. Reduced premiums mean that small growers can no longer cover the costs of organic production and certification. Under USDA standards, certified organic soils must be free of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for a minimum of three years. During that time, the farmers incur debts; a circumstance that (coupled with lower prices) has forced many to switch back to conventional production.
While this is bad news for birds such as Cerulean and Chestnut-sided Warblers (both depend heavily on shade coffee plantations during the winter), birders can still help the above, and many other avian species, by purchasing premium, shade grown, Fair Trade coffee products through companies such as Higher Grounds, or from organizations such as Audubon or the American Bird Conservancy.
If you care about our migrating birds, please do not support companies that conduct business in a way that results in loss of winter habitat for them.
If you have never attended a birding festival before, The Biggest Week in American Birding is the perfect place to become initiated.