Where Is Your Bird Bath?
One of the things I love to do is watch the birds in the backyard bath. Especially the robins, they seem to put special effort into flinging the water everywhere. I figure they must just love to get wet on a hot day. I plan on putting at least one water feature, either a bath or a small pond, in among my new raised beds.
The one thing I hadn't thought about was, whether that would be a good place for one?
Bathing or getting a drink, is a dangerous time for a wild animal. We humans have forgotten that. As an apex predator, there's little to challenge us or hunt us when we let down our guard now, except in a few really wild places. We've forgotten that for literally 99.99% of the time humans have been on this planet, we've been prey.
So if I want to welcome animals into my space, then it is on me to consider how to make them feel welcome.
Here's a good article on where its good to put a bird bath, and where its not.
https://www.thespruce.com/bird-bath-placement-385549
"Most birders assume that any bird bath is helpful, but in the wrong place, a bird bath can actually hurt birds. Positioned under a feeder or near a tree or bush that regularly sheds its leaves, a birdbath will soon fill with dirt and debris that can foster mold or bacteria growth that can cause disease. Bird baths too close to windows could lead to collisions and injuries, and a bird bath that is accessible to predators puts birds in harm's way whenever they drink or bathe. Fortunately, it is easy to choose the proper bird bath placement to maximize the bath's usefulness and minimize its hazards."
Kay Robison
Fri, 08/06/2021 - 08:26
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Unintended bird bath
I have a stainless steel dog dish that I use to provide water for the chickens. It sits in the middle of the back yard under a shade tree, but with a clear view all around. Many birds come to drink and the starlings especially climb in and splash around in the spring. I probably fill the dish two to three times a day for the chickens, but it is the starlings that dispose of the water.
Teresa from Hershey
Fri, 08/06/2021 - 11:30
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I have eight birdbaths in my 1/4 acre yard
I currently have eight birdbaths. Some I bought new, some are used, some are salvage, and some are repurposed.
I put them where I have space. I think it's very possible to get over-dainty about the "perfect" location. If you're waiting for perfect, your birds will never get any water. As for leaves, mosquito larvae, and other junk, that's why you dump and refill them twice a week. Or more often if you like but twice a week works well for us.
#1 (bought new) standing birdbath in front yard garden, visible from street and picture window. Best view for cats.
#2 (salvaged, handle-less steel frying pan) on the ground near front sidewalk, front yard
#3 (second-hand flat metal bowl) on the ground under spruce tree in front yard
#4 (salvaged) standing birdbath under Florida Room eaves. This one's had it's holes patched with aquarium silicon sealant. When the sealant fails, it will be repurposed into a free-standing hen and chicks bed rather than a birdbath. The location is good but the metal bowl is failing in too many places to patch. I have another, holey metal birdbath that became a hen and chicks planter.
#5 (bought used) a copper basin on a stand in the thicket under the cherry tree in the backyard
#6 (salvaged) a flat metal bowl on the ground in the same thicket
#7 (scavenged) standing concrete birdbath in the far back corner by the pachysandras.
#8 (bought new) standing metal birdbath by the toolshed and the currants
I've bought birdbaths new and used, I've trash-picked them, I've had them given to me (the question to ask is "do you want that old birdbath in the corner of your yard?", and I've repurposed metal pans and flat bowls. The salvaged frying pan is a case in point. It's shiny steel with most of the handle broken off. It's big, flat, and holds two inches of water. Birds and other critters like it. The other ground birdbaths are flat metal bowls so they don't get broken.
I don't like plastic.
Copper is the absolute best if you can afford it.
Metal birdbaths all eventually fail due to rust and being eaten up with holes, unless they are copper.
Ceramic birdbaths have to be emptied for the winter. They're also very breakable when you're dumping and refilling them.
Concrete birdbaths are .... iffy when it comes to winter. It depends on how well made they are. They're harder to dump regularly as they're heavy. Some of my concrete birdbaths fail after a hard winter. My current scavenged one is holding up really well but it's been finished with some sort of glaze so water doesn't seep into the cracks and expand when it freezes.
My feeling is the more, the better. Provide a choice of watering holes. Different birds will use different birdbaths.