Bird Baths
Kindness is a birdbath
Sometimes fresh, clean water is hard for a bird to find. You can make a bird's day simply by offering a drink and a bath. Parent birds will often bring their babies to the bath after they fledge and show them where it is. Like the baby robin getting its first bath in a Bird Bath Fountain Water will actually attract more species of birds than feeders will. Birds such as wrens, catbirds, and waxwings, who eat insects or fruit, don't visit most feeders. But a birdbath attracts all kinds of birds. Bluebirds, robins, catbirds, warblers and thrushes. We've even watched screech owls drinking from a birdbath right in town at dawn. Put your birdbath in your garden, and the birds will find it quickly. Watching birds at the birdbath brings great happiness to a home. It's one of the easiest ways to bring birds up close, where the whole family can get a really good look and enjoy their beauty.
What kind of birdbath is best?
Rough bottomed
Birds don't want to lose their footing. They don't like a glazed, slippery bottom. Cement is good, but it's heavy and hard to handle. Some of the new fiber-and-resin baths are amazingly lightweight, and they have a rougher texture, that makes birds feel secure.
Drippy or sprinking
The plink or splash of moving water is pure invitation to birds. It dramatically increases the number of species that visit a birdbath. For example, hummingbirds would never wade into the bath the way a robin does, because hummingbirds bathe only in flight. But I have watched hummers zipping back and forth through the drips, timing their flights so that they catch a water drop on their backs on each pass.
Where should a birdbath be located?
Not where cats can hide.
Cats like to lie in wait beneath shrubbery or behind a concealing object and then pounce on the birds when they're wet and can't fly well. So put your birdbath at least five to ten feet from such hiding places. Give the birds a chance to see the cat coming.
With an escape route.
The ideal location is under some branches that hang down within two or three feet of the bath. A wet bird can flutter a few feet up to the safety of the leaves.
On a pedestal.
It's easy to see from the house, easy to clean, and somewhat safer from predators. If you locate your bath on the ground, it's important for the birds to have overhanging branches.
Within reach of a hose.
Make your birdbath easy to clean and refill. But locate your birdbath away from your feeding station, because seeds and droppings would soil the water quickly. Change the water every few days, or even every day in hot weather. Dump it out or squirt it out with the hose. I keep a scrub brush outside with my gardening tools, so that I can brush out any algae that begins to form.
In view from a window.
Don't forget to put yourself in the picture. Place the birdbath where you can see it from indoors, from your desk, dining room, or kitchen sink.
Or locate it in your garden. Nothing is more decorative in a garden than a father bluebird bringing his newly-fledged young and introducing them to the birdbath.
A bird in the bath is the soul of enjoyment. The sight of it, even a chance glimpse through the window, will provide you too with a splash of happiness. Here at Aquarius Fountains N More we also cary a large selection of Bird Baths, Bird Bath fountains, Solar Birdbath Fountains, Bird Feeders, Bird supplies, and Bird houses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
