Laura Erickson's For the Birds

All week we’re talking about Christmas gifts for the birds—that is, things that cost us nothing but can be of great importance for birds. This time we’ll look in the kitchen. First, if you’re a coffee drinker, consider switching to a shade-grown variety. Old fashioned coffee plantations grow coffee in the shade of large tropical forest trees. This diversity of plants makes pesticides unnecessary and maintains habitat for a huge variety of birds, including Minnesota birds on their wintering grounds. And coffee grown this way tends to be wonderfully flavorful.

But more and more the natural forest is being destroyed to grow “sun-loving” varieties of coffee beans that grow faster but require pesticides and have less flavor. Sun-grown coffee plantations are monocultures that provide virtually no habitat for birds. Unfortunately, none of the major brands of coffee sold in grocery stores are packaged with information about whether or not they are shade-grown. But most specialty companies, from Duluth-based Alakef to Starbucks, sell at least some shade-grown varieties. Sitting by your breakfast table watching backyard birds while sipping a cup of shade-grown coffee is a delicious experience for us and of immeasurable benefit for birds.

Also, consider eating less beef. Much of the beef sold in the U.S. comes from the tropics, where deforestation for agriculture continues at an accelerating pace. Much of the soil in tropical America is poor, and can’t sustain cattle for more than a few years. Once the soil has been trampled and baked in the sun, it may take centuries for forest to return. This is dangerous not only for the soil and the trees, but also for the actual tropical climate. The vast majority of rain in tropical rainforests comes not from weather systems blown in from other places, but from the moisture that builds up from transpiration of rainforest plants. Once these plants are removed, there is no longer any moisture to recycle, and more arid plants may permanently replace rainforest and jungle vegetation. Again, this directly affects both tropical birds and north-country birds who winter in Central and South America, including warblers, orioles, and tanagers.

Even beef grown here in the U.S. uses more resources, removes natural habitat, and contributes to the ever-burgeoning resistance of dangerous pathogens to antibiotics, because so many antibiotics are added to cattle feed. Bovine growth hormone is correlated with an increase of mastitis in cows, requiring the use of even more antibiotics. All in all, like most things that are good for birds, cutting down on red-meat consumption is good for us, too. And cutting out an occasional hamburger seems a small price to pay to help so many beautiful birds.