Your choice of coffee could save songbirds

The only connection you may see between coffee and birds is the obvious one: To be out there at the crack o' dawn when the birds are most active, you need that wake-up jolt that comes in a cup of caffeine. But there's another connection, much less evident, much more important.

September is the peak of southbound songbird migration. Have you ever thought about where your migrant songbirds are going and how they're going to survive? Most of them are going to where your coffee is coming from, and they need trees and insects there. If you want to continue enjoying their spring and fall passages, I'd like you to consider buying only "shade-grown" coffee.