Lexington, KY - 'Tis the season for gifting. Stuff can be fun, but so many of our friends and family have lots of that. What do you get for the gardener who is maxed out on stuff? Why not give a gift to their feathered friends?
The latest Audubon Society WatchList reports that over one-quarter of our birds - over 200 species - are in trouble or declining. In fact, the populations of many of our beloved songbirds have decreased 40 percent or more since 1970.
There are many reasons for this sad state of affairs, one of which is loss of habitat.
A gift of shade-grown coffee is a gift of habitat for our migrant birds.
"Coffee can be a bird's best friend," says "Silence of the Songbirds" author Bridget Stutchbury, "but in the past few decades modern farming has swept the coffee industry and has also swept away some of the last forest refuges for birds."
A traditional shade-grown coffee farm is a mini ecosystem full of biodiversity. It teems with resident birds that are joined by migrants from the north from September through March. The birds are attracted to the food that the shade trees provide.
Sun-grown coffee is another story entirely. Sun coffee degrades the soil and the environment because it can only be grown with heavy inputs of fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. The tree canopy has been removed so heavy rains wash away the soil. Sun coffee has triggered an ecological disaster because the shade trees and the communities they harbor have been lost on such a large scale.
Shade-grown coffee tastes better, too. The shade provides cool temperatures and high humidity for the coffee plants. The berries ripen slowly, producing premium-quality coffee. How do you know for sure the coffee you're buying is shade grown? The Smithsonian Institute's Migratory Bird Center has developed a "Bird Friendly" certification. Birds & Beans coffee, certified "Bird Friendly," is sold at Wild Birds Unlimited, located at 152 N. Locust Drive. It is also fair to say that most Fair Trade Certified coffee sold in the United States is certified organic and shade grown.
Let's give the birds a home in our own backyards.
A home for birds can be yard art, too. Pat Kasper is a local artist and gardener who has turned her many talents into making functional and
delightful bird houses. She makes five different houses sized for one bird family and a "townhouse" for two families.
PK Birdhomes are constructed of solid wood, which is a good insulator. (Plastic or metal - even on the bird house roof - will bake your birds.) The houses have no perches because they are of no use to the birds in residence, and provide predators with a convenient place from which to attack the birds inside. The roofs overhang the entry to keep the rain out. And the birdhouses open for easy cleaning at the end of the season. You can contact Kasper at (859) 223-8533 or by e-mail at p.kasper@insightbb.com.
Now, how about giving them a home in your heart?
Learning about birds and appreciating how valuable they are to the well being of life on this planet may help us to open our hearts to sharing with them. An amazing book that I've quoted from already, "Silence of the Songbirds," would make an eye-opening gift for any gardener. Author Bridget Stutchbury tells us that birds "are nature's blue-collar workers, helping to sustain the environment we share with them." Birds eat bugs. Without their voracious appetites our world would be overrun with all manner of creepy, crawling creatures devouring everything living and green. Birds pollinate flowers. And often when they perch and poop, they plant seeds.
Now you see it. A gift to the birds is, in the end, also a gift to ourselves.