Why birds love water
Like us, they need to drink water to survive. Plus, birds expel heat differently than humans and water helps keep them keep cool. Finally, birds bathe constantly. This gets the grit out of their feathers and helps with flying and protection from the elements.

Safety
Keep your bird bath 6-10 feet from a tree, bush or ground cover to provide protection from predators.
Shade
Place your bird bath where it will get far more shade than sunlight.
Depth
Remember, your birds are drinking and bathing…not cliff diving! Keep your water depth at 2 inches max. Anything over that will spook the birds since they don’t want to get in over their heads. If you wish to make it deeper, add a few river stones.

Moving water
Birds are attracted to moving water because they’ve learned it’s safer to drink than stagnant water. Consider getting Water Wiggler from The Birdwatchers Store. It agitates water continuously, reducing algae growth and keeping mosquito eggs from hatching.

Heaters
Wild birds need to drink and bathe year all round. The Birdwatchers Store has both heated bird baths and heating elements you can add to an existing bird bath to help wild birds in winter.

Cleaning
It’s best to clean and fill your bird bath daily. Simply keep a little dish soap and a pot scrubber next to your garden hose. Dump the old water, add a drop of dish soap, scrub it around then hit it with the hose. Elapsed time: 2 minutes!
