We are asked all the time: "should I buy a bird bath?" The answer is ... absolutely! It is incredible how many bird species visit bird baths! Some don't visit bird feeders!
Should you buy a bird bath for your yard? Definitely! And you’ll be glad you did! Just remember that it is important to fill it with fresh water often (and clean it out). If you came here looking for advice on some good bird-safe cleaners, I’d recommend checking out our blog post on that topic here.
Just the other day I was wandering around at Kemp Park, with my Nikon camera ready to snap a shot or two of any birds willing to make themselves seen. I saw a perfect example in nature of how important the water is to our bird friends. When you park at Kemp and go around/through the gate and proceed to the bottom of the hill there is a small (I mean very small) pond. There are some reeds growing there and a nice bench is positioned nearby. After a good rain, water drains down the hills on this property and forms a temporary stream that feeds into this small pond. As I quietly walked past this tiny pond and the bench there, I heard some soft gurgles and splashing sounds. As I peered “upstream” I noticed an American Robin taking a bath just before he noticed me and fled the scene. A few moments later, a Tufted Titmouse flew in and also took a few drinks and a quick bath also.
The Tiny Pond located at Kemp Park in Marietta, Georgia
We started feeding the birds in our yard first and didn’t give much thought to providing water to the birds, because there is a 17-Acre lake basically right across the street from us. However, we discussed it and came to the conclusion that if we were going to put out fresh seed each morning for the birds, it would not require much effort to provide them with a plate or bowl of water too. We were right of course. Now, we’ve seen so many birds drinking water that it is hard to keep track of them all. Sometimes we have more fun watching the bird “pool” than anything that is streaming on the Roku. Here are a few pictures to show exactly what I mean:
Carolina Chickadee considering a bath if the temperature is just right.
Chester the Brown-headed Nuthatch visits the pool often for drinks and baths.
Bobby the Eastern Bluebird loves to bring his wife and children to our pool.
A very wet Gray Catbird enjoys a good soak.
Momma Titmouse kept calling but Timmy did not want to leave the pool!
Mourning Doves love to take long sips of water in the evenings.
Gray Catbird splishing and splashing.
Brown Thrasher that decided a drink just wasn’t enough.
Tufted Titmouse sipping water quickly.
Eastern Gray Squirrel grabbing a drink before pillaging the deck feeder (again).
Juvenile American Crow enjoying a fresh drink of clean water.
As with any wild animal feeding “experiment”, there are some unusual guests that you might not expect to see drinking from dish laying on a deck handrail: Raccoons, Squirrels, Chipmunks, and most recently even Wild Eastern Turkeys. To make things stranger still, not all birds will drink from a dish or a bowl. In 5 years we have seen Downy Woodpeckers drink from the dish only a handful of times, but never the other woodpecker species. Additionally, House Finches and American Goldfinches seem to prefer drinking water from the small “Ant Traps” that we place on top of our hummingbird feeders. Occasionally we see Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice and even Brown-headed nuthatches and White-Breasted Nuthatches drinking out of these as well, but they will just as often drink from a plate or a bowl.
If you haven’t seen these small “Ant traps” they basically function as a small barrier to protect your hummingbird sugar-water/nectar from a never-ending swarm of ants. We fill ours with fresh water each day to prevent mosquitos from growing and also to keep the water clean for these small birds. Here is a link – we STRONGLY recommend them if you have hummingbird feeders OR if you just want to hang some other type of feeder and want to keep the ants off, while quenching the thirst of our tiny friends!
We may upgrade to a small heated birdbath for the winter this year. It becomes problematic when you leave water in your plates/dishes and it freezes up. Then you either wind up with a cracked plate or you spend lots of extra time pouring water on the ice to thaw it out, dump it, and then repeat… only to forget again a few days later to dump the water before you go to bed, so it freezes again.
When you put fresh water out during the Spring or Fall migrations, you will be in for a treat! You might see Cedar Waxwings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, or any number of other visitors that food alone may not entice. If you enjoy reading this please give us a like or leave us a comment! We’d love to hear about the strangest visitor you’ve seen at your bird bath or “pool” as we refer to it.