Bird City, Milwaukee County is a monthly column celebrating the 11 cities, towns, and villages that have achieved Bird City status within Milwaukee County. Citizens of these locations have made bird conservation a priority, protecting land, writing ordinances, and educating the public on issues concerning our avian neighbors. You can learn more about the Bird City Network by visiting its website. This month: the Village of Fox Point.

Last month’s look at River Hills brought us to a residential community of around 1,600 people. We’re going to multiply that by four as we venture back east across I-94 toward this month’s Bird City, the Village of Fox Point. And since we’re going bigger, this month’s Q&A is going bigger, too. Our guest, Dr. Ruth Bennett, is from THE Smithsonian. Consider it a summer treat. And speaking of which, between work and the heat we’re all exhausted. And you know what exhausted people like? Coffee! So…we’re going to talk to Dr. Bennett about coffee and birds, and trust me, she’s an expert on both! First, we’re going to take a walk over to Fox Point and I’m all out of transitions so let’s just dive into it.

At first glance, Fox Point has a ton in common with River Hills. I think one could make a pretty convincing argument that each village’s permanent art exhibit—River Hill’s Lynden Sculpture Garden and Fox Point’s Mary Nohl Art Environment—are among the most important in the county. While Lynden is a cherished institute, the former residency of multi-disciplinary artist Mary Nohl has been involved in some heated residential debates over the years. Last year the Village gave the the house a cultural space designation, cementing its place in Milwaukee’s art world. Honestly, it’s the one place people should make a point to visit in Fox Point. Well, when they’re not out birding, of course.

Like River Hills, I’ve got one destination for you this month. Fox Point’s best birding spot is undoubtedly Doctors Park. The park hugs both Lake Michigan and Schlitz Audubon, so the stuff that makes both of those locations great for birds makes Doctors Park great, too. While a decent amount of Doctors Park’s near-49 acres is open space dedicated to soccer and other sports, the Doctors Park Friends Group has put in a ton of work to rewild areas and cut back invasive species. They remove buckthorn, garlic mustard, burdock, and other invasives three times a year during their volunteer-led “weed out” events. They’re also building back areas of their tree canopy with new tree plantings, and if you’re interested in helping the cause you can donate to them HERE. Emerald ash borer infestation has plagued tree populations across the Midwest and Milwaukee, is no exception. Thankfully, Doctors Park has a large mixed canopy of trees that hold a large mix of Milwaukee’s favorite songbirds. Blue jays, Baltimore Orioles, and more thrive atop the bluff. It’s also a common spot to come across deer and other common critters.

The stone pathway down the bluff provides direct access to Lake Michigan. The descent offers birders a chance to survey across forest layers. Warblers and other migrators are common in the spring and fall, while song sparrows are frequent. The staircase itself is 90 years old and recently renovated. It’s a beautiful walk no matter what time of year and as mentioned, the payoff is a walk on the Lake Michigan beach.

Song Sparrow

Gulls and shorebirds, including an occasional Greater Yellowlegs, mix it up on the sand. You can spend any given morning spotting ducks resting or windborne. Depending on the time of year a lucky birder might spot a scoter, teal, or Caspian tern, and after a few hours on a good summer day there are enough double-crested cormorants to fill an hourglass, but you can leave that to the beach sand. Unlike Bradford Beach, there’s some peace to be found walking the shore at Doctors Park. That and a pelican or two.

Greater Yellowlegs

Caspian Tern

American White Pelican

Without further ado, let’s get to this month’s guest, Dr. Ruth Bennett. I’m jacked up on caffeine just thinking about this Q&A. In previous articles, we’ve discussed how we can help our birds in our own homes and habitats. This month, we get to talk about how you can help our migratory birds when they visit their wintering grounds. It’s pretty cool stuff, and Dr. Bennett is here to share with us why thinking about our coffee helps us think about our birds.

Q&A With Dr. Ruth Bennett, Research Ecologist at Smithsonian’s National Zoo And Conservation Biology Institute

Milwaukee Record: I think it might come as a surprise to some people that coffee can be bird-friendly…or not so bird-friendly. Can you give us some background on the Smithsonian’s work in designing a Bird Friendly certification and why it’s necessary for us to think critically about the coffee we buy?

Dr. Ruth Bennett: Most people don’t know that their daily cup of coffee has the power to hurt or protect migratory songbird populations. Back in the 1980s, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center had discovered that many migratory birds were going through steep population declines, and that many of these species spent the winter in Latin American landscapes full of coffee farms. We found that migratory birds were abundant and healthy on coffee farms that had native shade trees planted over the coffee. This is the traditional way that coffee is grown. In fact, shaded coffee farms are one of the best known habitats for migratory songbirds. However, many coffee farms had intensified production by removing those shade trees to produce more coffee on their land. When those shade trees are removed, migratory birds lose their winter habitat and may not survive the winter. This is one of the drivers of migratory bird population declines.

So coffee that is grown in the shade protects birds, while coffee that is grown in the sun hurts birds. The Smithsonian wanted to give farmers a reason to keep those important shade trees on their farms, so we created the Smithsonian Bird Friendly coffee certification. When coffee lovers purchase Bird Friendly certified coffee, they provide a market incentive for farmers to keep shade trees, and thereby protect migratory birds and other wildlife. Bird Friendly certified farms protect up to four times as many bird species as sun coffee farms.

MR: What makes a farm Bird Friendly, and what has the response been from coffee farms and coffee shops?

RB: To gain certification, coffee farms must be organic, meaning no harmful pesticides are used, and they must keep a diversity of native shade trees over the coffee. We currently have 80 coffee roasters that sell Bird Friendly certified coffees. Most of these are in the United States, but we also have a markets in Japan, Canada, and the EU. Bird Friendly certification gives coffee roasters a way to share their commitment to sustainable and wildlife-friendly coffee with their customers. Bird Friendly certification is the gold-standard in environmental conservation for coffee farms. No other certification guarantees that 100% of the certified coffee comes from farms that protect wildlife.

Over 5,000 coffee farmers from 11 countries are certified Bird Friendly. These farmers tell us that they love conserving native trees and birds, but that it is hard to do that if consumers don’t want to purchase their Bird Friendly coffee. When our certified farmers build stable relationships with coffee roasters that want their Bird Friendly coffee, they are more likely to keep protecting bird and wildlife habitat on their farms. For many farmers, Bird Friendly certification provides international recognition of the importance of their decision to farm in a way that protect birds and wildlife.

MR: It’s always important to remind people that birds don’t share the same borders as we do. What are some of the birds Wisconsinites might see in the spring and summer that rely on Bird Friendly coffee habitats, and what challenges do they face?

RB: Lots of birds that breed in Wisconsin or pass through Wisconsin on migration spend the winters on coffee farms! These include Baltimore Oriole, Gray Catbird, Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, Canada Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler (almost all of the warblers of Wisconsin can be found on coffee farms in the winter), Yellow-throated Vireo and Philadelphia Vireo, Swainson’s Thrush, Hermit Thrush, and Wood Thrush, to name a few.

Almost all of these birds are going through prolonged population decline. Loss of native vegetation in Latin America is one of the reasons, and purchasing Bird Friendly certified coffee helps with that issue! But these birds also face threats here in the U.S., such as predation by feral cats, window collisions during migration, pesticides that kill their insect food sources, and loss of natural habitat and vegetation in Wisconsin.

Yellow Warbler in Costa Rica

MR: In addition to your work establishing coffee certifications, you’re also working establishing standards for cocoa. Tell us a little bit about that work.

RB: We launched a Bird Friendly cocoa certification in 2023. Cocoa trees (which make the key ingredient for chocolate) can be grown under large native shade trees, just like coffee. Our cocoa certification is very similar to coffee: farms must be organic and either protect native shade trees over the cocoa or protect blocks of forest next to the cocoa farms. Just like in coffee, cocoa farms that meet the Bird Friendly certification criteria protect about four times as many birds as a sun-grown cocoa farm. You can find Bird Friendly certified chocolates from Raaka Chocolate and Dandelion chocolate, and we hope to expand to more chocolatiers in the coming years.

MR: How can Wisconsinites support birds through their coffee (both in-home and at coffee shops) purchases?

RB: The easiest thing to do is purchase Bird Friendly certified coffee. You can find Bird Friendly coffee online at our online purchasing portal with over a hundred different options that can be shipped directly to your home.

Bird Friendly coffee can still be difficult to find in grocery stores. But if you tell your favorite coffee roaster that you’re interested in Bird Friendly coffee, that gives them a reason to start offering you a Bird Friendly certified coffee option. Please reach out to the Smithsonian Bird Friendly team if you have a coffee shop that you’d like to connect us to. It’s an easy switch for roasters to start buying Bird Friendly coffees, but they need their customers to tell them that they want it.

MR: Is there anything else you’d like to share that I might have missed or that would be important to Midwestern readers?

RB: Sometimes we forget that each purchase we make has an impact. I’d encourage all of the readers to think about this the next time they drink a cup of coffee or eat a bar of chocolate. Buying Bird Friendly certified coffees and chocolates is easy, and it tastes great! In fact, most coffee roasters say that shade-grown coffees are have more complex and nuanced flavors than sun grown coffees. We invite you to join us in protecting migratory birds by choosing a Bird Friendly certified option next time you buy a coffee.

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