Record #:

4585

Author(s):

Johns, Mark

Abstract:

Many of the state's migratory songbirds that summer here and winter in Latin America are declining in numbers. Loss of tropical forests is one factor. Another is the change in the way coffee is grown. With the loss of forests over the last two decades, many birds moved into shaded coffee plantations where coffee plants are grown beneath the trees. Now many farmers are growing high-yield coffee varieties that need sunlight. Almost half of northern Latin America's coffee plantations have converted from shade to sun as of 1990, further reducing songbird habitats.

Source:

Wildlife in North Carolina (NoCar SK 431 W54x), Vol. 63 Issue 5, May 1999, p32, il

Subject(s):

Birds--Migration; Bird populations; Coffee; Songbirds