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Are Birds Best Hope for Pest-Ridden Coffee Crops?

from National Geographic News

Chances are you've never heard of Hypothenemus hampei. But this tiny insect is the world's biggest threat to something many of us swear we can't live without: our morning cup of coffee.

The bug, commonly known as the coffee berry borer, strikes almost everywhere coffee grows. It can destroy up to 70 percent of a crop, posing a significant threat to this $70-billion-a-year industry.

Millions of dollars have funded research to eradicate the coffee berry borer, and for decades, coffee farmers the world over have been battling the pest using every weapon they can muster, from traps to insecticide and even other insects—all with limited success. But a simple solution may already exist in their own backyards: birds.