Organic certification
Producers must hold organic certification or use a participatory guarantee system.
Why sip Bird Friendly?
Coffee certified to protect habitat
Smithsonian Bird Friendly certified coffee comes from farms that protect high-quality habitat for birds and wildlife. Rather than clearing forests, it is cultivated underneath and alongside diverse, native trees.
Organic certification
Zero deforestation
Biodiversity conservation
Post-harvest traceability
The choice in every cup
Coffee can erase habitat, or protect it
Coffee grows in some of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Full-sun farming can remove the trees birds and wildlife depend on.
Bird Friendly certification guarantees habitat protection for birds and wildlife.
The environmental gold standard
What Bird Friendly actually requires
Every certified farm must be organic and deforestation-free, conserve biodiversity through an approved pathway, and maintain traceability after harvest.
Zero deforestation
Certified habitat must have had no deforestation within the previous 10 years.
Two conservation pathways
Farms conserve biodiversity through either an agroforestry system or forest conservation.
Agroforestry system
Coffee systems maintain at least 40% shade cover, 10 shade-tree species per hectare, and 60% native trees.
Forest conservation
Conserved forest must meet a 2:3 forest-to-crop ratio and requirements for governance, management, tenure, and primary or secondary forest.
Post-harvest traceability
Certified coffee is separated, labeled, and documented throughout post-harvest processing and storage.
Why the seal matters
Look for proof, not vague promises
Criteria are verified by accredited third-party auditors, while separation, labeling, and documentation support post-harvest traceability.
Defined conservation criteria
Bird Friendly verifies biodiversity conservation through one of two defined pathways: agroforestry or forest conservation.
More than organic
Organic certification is the starting point; Bird Friendly also requires zero deforestation, biodiversity conservation, and traceability.
Clearer than broad sustainability claims
The seal connects the coffee to a defined Smithsonian standard and verification process.
Better for the cup, too
Coffee cultivated underneath and alongside trees can develop a more complex, robust flavor than conventionally grown alternatives.
Keep the Morning Song alive
Choose the coffee with habitat behind it
Every bean in Morning Song is Smithsonian Bird Friendly certified, and every batch is roasted in Bend, Oregon.