Drink Bird Friendly® Certified Coffee

Did you know that you have an opportunity to make a difference every single morning by drinking Bird Friendly® certified coffee? It isn’t a gimmick—I promise.

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About 90% of migratory stopover habitat in Central America is unprotected. Most of this habitat exists within working lands—areas where people live off the land and support their families through farming and timber harvesting. This is why drinking Bird-Friendly coffee is so important.

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Unlike sun-grown coffee, which is produced in sterile monoculture environments devoid of most wildlife species, shade-grown coffee is grown beneath an intact tree canopy. These farms provide habitat to hundreds of birds, mammals, and other wildlife species.

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• Scientists have determined that 13% of the global population of yellow warblers, a bird that breeds in the U.S., overwinter in Nicaragua, where they often use shade coffee and cocoa plantations.

• A backyard favorite during breeding season, the Baltimore Oriole, is a common visitor to shade coffee farms. Orioles arrive just as the berries are turning red—farmers know it’s harvest time when they see the birds in the trees.

Bird Friendly® Certification requirements:

1. Organic certification standards must be met.

2. Minimum of 40% shade coverage must be maintained.

3. Must meet recommendations for the diversity and size of trees that make up the forest canopy.

The impact on birds is dramatic:

• Sun-grown coffee farms support about 60 bird species

• Partial shade coffee farms: 79 species

• Bird-Friendly certified farms: 243 species

By choosing Bird Friendly® certified coffee, you’re supporting both local farmers and the wildlife that rely on their lands.

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You can find a list of certified brands on the Smithsonian’s website, and I’ll also include some of my personal favorites in the Resources section.