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. 

Happy northern cardinal. Shade, safe and perfect depth.

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.

A Water Wiggler, whether battery or solar powered, will attract birds to your yard as if you had another feeder.

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.

Heated baths and heating elements for your existing bird bath keep the temperature around 40 degrees F to keep birds comfortable.

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!

Cleaning your bird bath takes less time than standing in line for a latte.