Drink to the Birds on International Migratory Bird Day, Saturday, May 12, 2001

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For Immediate Release

Drink to the Birds on International Migratory Bird Day, Saturday, May 12, 2001

MARYLAND, GLEN ECHO, May. 1 -/E-Wire/-- Wild Bird Centers of America will celebrate International Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, May 12, 2001. Participating Wild Bird Centers and Wild Bird Crossing stores will highlight this year's IMBD theme, the importance of shade grown coffee to migratory birds, with free samples of Under Cover Coffee for customers. IMBD gifts, such as t-shirts and posters depicting tropical songbirds in a shade coffee plantation and temporary Bald Eagle tattoos for the kids, will be available for free with store purchases.

Research is showing that the 1500 million pounds of coffee sold in the United States each year may have negative impacts on the birds that depend on habitats to the south. In the last 25 years, more than half of the seven million acres of coffee farms in northern Latin America have been cleared of shade trees. The resulting "sun coffee" plantations require more chemical fertilizers and pesticides and often have problems with soil erosion and toxic runoff. The diversity of bird species plummets.

On shade farms, coffee is grown slowly under forest cover, preserving important migratory bird habitat as well as complex flavor in the beans. The detritus of shade trees supplies nitrogen for the soil, and the birds inhabiting the tree canopy eat insect pests. Under Cover Coffee, described by the New York Times as "purist beans harvested without the usual denuding of bird habitats" is sold exclusively at Wild Bird Center franchise stores. It has won international acclaim in Coffee Review magazine. Connoisseurs believe that because it ripens gradually, it has a more sophisticated flavor. In the words of George Petrides, president of Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc. says, "What's good for the birds is also good for the beans."

Under the direction of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, International Migratory Bird Day focuses attention on nearly 350 species of migratory birds that travel between wintering grounds in Mexico, South and Central America, and the Caribbean, and nesting habitats in North America.

Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc. is a franchise of nearly 100 specialty stores dedicated to enhancing enjoyment of and support for wild birds.

Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc.

http://www.wildbirdcenter.com

http://www.birdday.org

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