How birds benefit coffee growers

There are many unlikely elements of the natural world that have evolved specifically to help one another survive.

The recent bee crisis has shown that, without the humble bumble bee, we as a species would struggle to pollinate our crops without assistance from this small, previously insignificant insect.

However, it is not an obvious connection to think about how the coffee plants and birds work together, there was an interesting article on this very point recently in the Digital Journal.

It has been noticed by biologists at Stanford University that in Costa Rica, the coffee growers and the birds have formed a beneficial working relationship.

Patches of the coffee plantations are left as ‘untouched rainforest’ which helps the birds: it effectively bolsters bird biodiversity and guarantees their natural habitat.

The birds also play their part: they eat the borer beetle, an aggressive pest running rampant in this part of the world.

So by eating it, the birds inadvertently improve the coffee yields, in no way an insignificant amount.

One of the most effective ‘beetle eating’ birds is said to be the Yellow Warbler and studies have suggested that a mid-size coffee plantation can save up to US$9,400 per harvest, thanks to this bird.

More effective than pesticide and much safer to the environment it seems many farmers would profit from setting aside bird some land for the native nesters, near or next to their coffee plantations.

Another way for us to work with not against nature.