SONG BIRD COFFEE

American Birding Association and
Thanksgiving Coffee Company

Song Bird Coffee is available from ABA Sales Online Store. Use the "search store" link and enter key word "coffee" to bring up a list of all the flavors available.

Coffee is a tropical crop, and much of the coffee we drink is grown in the West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America, and South America. Much of the coffee grown in this region is grown in the shade, under a natural canopy of tropical trees. Ornithologists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center have shown that bird species diversity is often at its highest in trees where coffee is grown as an understory crop. In fact, shade-coffee plantations are second only to undisturbed forest as the best habitat for birds in Latin America. A significant proportion of coffee is now grown in full sun following clearance of the forests - a practice that costs more and often requires pesticides and fertilizer products.

Partners in Flight, the neotropical migratory bird conservation program, works on the premise that we need to act to protect the wintering and breeding grounds of North American migrants and stopover sites in-between. In all of these areas, habitat is threatened by agriculture, logging, urbanization, and other intensive land uses. ABA is one of the leading nongovernmental organizations contributing to Partners in Flight. Your purchase of this shade-grown coffee helps to fund the conservation and education programs of ABA, including ABA's contribution to Partners in Flight.

Thanksgiving Coffee Company has been roasting, blending, and distributing fine Arabica coffees since 1972. For every package sold, 15 cents is returned to the growers to assist in developing improved economic and social infrastructure for their small communities. In addition, for every package of Song Bird Coffee sold, 15 cents funds ABA conservation projects. The American Birding Association is delighted to be working with Thanksgiving Coffee Company to provide you with these high-quality, great-tasting coffees from shade-coffee plantations in Latin America. Song Bird Coffee, sponsored by the ABA, roasted and distributed by Thanksgiving Coffee Company, is available in six blends: Costa Rican (light roast), Guatemalan (light roast), Decaffeinated (light and dark roast blend), Hazelnut (flavored), French Roast (dark roast), and Nicaraguan (medium roast).

To get in touch with Thanksgiving Coffee Company call 1 800 648-6491, fax 707 964-0351, email mail@thanksgivingcoffee.com or check out Songbird Coffee at their web site http://www.songbirdcoffee.com