If you’re looking for a cheap and reliable way to attract birds to your garden, then look no further than the humble bird bath.
Why Have a Bird Bath?
Bird baths are a cheap and easy way to attract birds to your garden. Feeding the birds is great, but bird seed can get expensive. Adding a bird bath to your garden attracts birds, and topping it up with water will cost you next to nothing.
By having a bird bath in your garden, you are also providing your local birds with a vital resource. During the hot summer months, a bird bath can provide a drink when other water sources may have completely dried up.
Additionally, bathing allows birds to remove dirt and parasites from their feathers, making them much easier to preen (find out more about preening on Wikipedia).
Do It Yourself
There are plenty of bird tables available online or at your local garden centre, but you can also make your own very easily. All you need is a wide, shallow, dish, tub or bowl that can hold water. An upside down dustbin lid, a large plant water tray or even an old frying pan would all do the job.
These blue tits and a great tit are enjoying a bath in the top of an old water butt.
Bird Bath Tips
Here are some tips on how to make your bird bath appealing and safe for your feathered garden friends:
- Your bird table needs to be shallow, a small bird such as a sparrow or blue tit needs to be able to paddle in the water with its feet on the ground.
- Position your bird table so that there is some nearby cover for the birds to dart into if they feel threatened. Try to position your bath amongst bushes or trees. This will prevent your bathers being easily swooped upon by a bird of prey, such as a sparrowhawk.
- Ensure that your bird table is raised from the ground and not too close to any vegetation, this will deprive the neighbourhood cat of any hiding places from which to pounce on unsuspecting birds. This is somewhat of a trade-off against the previous tip, it’s a balancing act to provide cover from predators but not cover that helps predators.
- Keep your bird bath topped up with fresh water throughout the year and always ensure it is clean as communal areas such as a bird baths can spread disease (see Keep Your Bird Feeders Clean to Avoid Disease).
- If you have a wildlife trail camera, placing it by a bird bath is a great to capture footage of a wide range of wildlife.
The Birds and the Bees
If you’re lucky, it may not just be birds that visit your bird bath. Insects such as bees and butterflies will also visit during the dry summer months.
This worker bee is taking time off for a well-earned drink on a metal pedestal bird bath.
If you have any tips on what to use for a make shift bird bath or any stories of interesting wildlife attracted by your bird bath, please let us know.
