|
Welfare: |
|
||
|
COFFEE CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO PARROTS' HEALTH By John Geary Most parrot owners realize that feeding coffee - or any caffeine product - to a parrot will poison it. Coffee can present other problems for companion parrots and wild parrots alike. First to deal with a hazard that is present in most homes, but unknown to many people who share their lives with parrots. Many parrot lovers are aware that non-stick surfaces on frying pans pose a serious hazard to their birds' health. When heated, they produce a gaseous by-product that can kill your birds. (There are several recorded case studies of this happening to pet birds). To be completely safe, you need to use non-stick metal frying pans. It turns out there is ALSO a risk of similar gases being produced by the heating pads on standard drip coffee makers .. you know, the circular metal pad the pot sits on to stay warm. There is an easy solution to that: Purchase one of those coffee makers that drips the coffee directly into a pot that doubles as a carafe, the kind that comes with no heating pad. Problem solved. Now as to their wild cousins ... Coffee can be even more hazardous to wild parrots and many of their feathered-cousins. That's because some coffee-growing methods are destructive to the birds' habitat. "Shade grown" coffee allows for the maintenance of the native tree canopy and the subsequent plants and animals supported by it, including parrots. This method preserves |
|||
|
migratory
bird habitats and food sources as well as the rainforest. In contrast, "full-sun" coffee plantations typically employ land clearing and use large amounts of pesticides to control weeds and insects, as well as fertilizers to control trees that grow rapidly in the sun and deplete the soil's nutrients. Shade-grown coffee farms are healthier for the farmers as well as the environment, because their organic farming methods reduce the need for pesticides and herbicides. |
Make sure you don't feed your parrot coffee; Nikki is drinking juice from this mug. |
||
|
Organic
farming also nurtures migratory birds for their long trip back to North
America, thus, preserving these species. There
are several companies that produce shade-grown coffee. |
|||
 |
For example, Second Cup purchases coffee from Hacienda La Minita. The La Minita estate has strong environmental practices including a strict no-chemical policy. All coffee is grown using shade trees and the estate has a dedicated wildlife preserve. Beyond La
Minita, similar ‘best practices’ programs are
benefiting farmers directly throughout Central and South America. Fully
98 per cent of the coffee Second Cup purchases is shade grown, which is
a more environmentally friendly method of coffee cultivation. Another earth-friendly (hence bird, i.e., parrot friendly) company is Thanksgiving Coffee. |
||
|
One of my favorite brews: La Minita |
|||
|
They select beans based on criteria developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Rainforest Alliance and Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers. Songbird Coffee is another coffee company that produces its coffee in an earth-friendly manner. They offer a Guatemalan shade grown blend grown exclusively in the shade of citrus, Ficus, Inga, Mango and Banana trees. No bird habitats were destroyed to bring it to your cup. They also offer 100 per cent shade-grown Nicaraguan Whole Bean Coffee. Café Canopy, a specialty gourmet coffee, is a blend of shade grown organic coffees from Central and South America. The unique dark tones stand out and are accented by sweetness and a lingering smoky flavor. Purchasers of this coffee have a hand in helping to maintain an equitable partnership between birds, farmers, consumers and the environment. This company's bird-friendly blend of shade grown coffees are sourced through Elan Organic Coffee Company, pioneers of certified shade organic coffee and we are endorsed by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. For every pound of Café Canopy purchased, the company contributes twenty five cents to the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. So ... the next time you enjoy a cup of fresh coffee, make sure it came from a home coffee maker that is safe for your feathered companions. Also, think about where the beans came from - more specifically, is your coffee bird-friendly? When you go shopping for your favorite brew, you might want to find out if you are sipping it at the expense of destroying the home - or even the life - of a bird and its family. The life you save might even be that of a parrot. A Prayer for the Wild Things "Oh
Great Spirit, we come to you with love and gratitude for all living
things. We now pray especially for our relatives of the wilderness--the
four-legged, the winged, those that live in the waters, and those that
crawl upon the land. Bless them, that they might continue to live in
freedom and enjoy their right to be wild. Fill our hearts with
tolerance, appreciation, and respect for all living things so that we
all might live together in harmony and peace." -Marcellus Bear Heart Williams For other resources and ideas about how to protect parrots and their habitat, visit our links page.
|
|||
|
General Information About African Grey Parrots
|
|||
