Know Your Coffee Birds series

Here’s a entry in the occasional Know Your Coffee Bird series, which profiles birds that utilize shade coffee farms. This post is about a species people might not immediately connect […]

Revised on March 4, 2021

A profile of a bird species that has a very special, recently defined connection to coffee.

Revised on January 7, 2022

A look at the charming and lively American Redstart, a warbler commonly found in Latin American shade coffee farms in winter.

Revised on January 7, 2022

The Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) is often heard before it is seen, a loud ringing “tea-cher, TEA-cher, TEA-CHER!” broadcast from close to the forest floor through much of the eastern U.S. […]

Revised on January 8, 2022

A profile of the Malabar Barbet, the first Old World species in our series on Know Your Coffee Birds. This one is found only in India’s Western Ghats.

Revised on November 25, 2020

Learn more about the brilliant Scarlet Tanager. It inspired my love of birds and my career, and is symbolic of “our” birds that winter in the tropics on shade coffee farms.

Revised on July 19, 2022

There are two species of palm-tanagers (Phaenicophilus) found on Hispaniola, the island comprised of the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti.  One is the widespread Black-crowned Palm-Tanager (P. palmarum). The other […]

Revised on January 8, 2022

The tiny, bright yellow bird that John  James Audubon called “Wilson’s Flycatching Warbler” breeds in a large swath all across northern North America. Wilson’s Warblers winter in much of Central […]

Revised on November 28, 2020

The Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus) holds a near-mythical status for birders. It is large –almost the size of a turkey — and bizzare-looking, with a red horn projecting from its […]

Revised on January 28, 2021

The Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) is a small, zebra-striped bird that is unique among our warblers. It is the only representative of its genus, and also the only one whose typical mode of foraging is clinging to and climbing up…

Revised on January 7, 2022

The Rufous-capped Warbler (Basileuterus rufifrons) is found through much of Central America, north through Mexico. This species is occasionally found in the southwestern U.S., when it creates a sensation among birders. This warbler is a common resident of shade coffee…

Revised on August 26, 2013

The Wood Thrush, a relative of the familiar American Robin, is often considered a symbol of the population declines of birds that nest in North America and winter in the tropics. This species has been declining since the mid-1960s, and…

Revised on January 7, 2022

One of the most enduring memories of my visit to Finca Hartmann is that of passing a spot that was frequently visited by a vivid male Violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus), a large tropical hummingbird found from southern Mexico to western…

Revised on November 14, 2019

Baltimore Orioles rely on flowering trees, especially the species commonly used to provide shade to coffee, during their winter months in Latin America.

Revised on November 14, 2019

My mug is on In My Mug

by JulieCraves on May 20, 2009

One of the best things to happen at the the Specialty Coffee Association of America expo in Atlanta this year was meeting coffee people I had only corresponded with up to that time. Surely one of the highlights was getting…

Revised on January 7, 2022