All Bird Amigo coffee is shade grown. A canopy of assorted types of shade trees is created over the coffee bushes. Shade growing incorporates principles of natural ecology to promote natural ecological relationships and provide alternative habitats for wild animals that have lost significant amounts of their natural habitat to deforestation. Shade grown coffee offers protection to birds in areas where a lot of the rainforest has been converted to agricultural production. These plantations are key to their continued survival in an increasingly industrialized world.

We live in an interconnected world. What consumers pay not realize is that the birds living in our shade grown coffee plantations in Colombia are not “Colombian” birds at all but migratory birds that travel annually throughout the Americas. Migratory birds actually benefit the most from shade grown coffee plantation habitats, compared to truly local species who are less flexible. Three migratory birds that benefit at our farm in particular are the Baltimore Oriole, the Orchard Oriole, and the Tennessee Warbler. These birds can be found enjoying our shade grown coffee plantations regularly. There are at least 52 different species of “North American” birds that spend half of the year in Colombia including a wide variety of hawks, kestrels, flycatchers, vireos, and warblers. Your Bird Amigo purchase helps protect the winter homes of some of your favorite “local” birds!

We grow the coffee under a canopy without any pesticides. Then, the beans are solar roasted under the hot, high altitude Andean sun in the fresh air. It does not get cleaner or more environmentally friendly than this!