Encouraging Birds to Bathe
Around here, we like our birds to be clean. You know, take a bath.
With encouragement from our Apologia textbook, Flying Creatures of the 5th Day, we have been trying to create a haven or sanctuary for any native (and non-native) flying creature. Initially, we sought to purchase a bird bath. That notion was quickly squelched when we discovered that bird baths run from $40-$80 and the hardware store.
After the initial shock wore off, we decided to be creative and invested a little under $10 for the pictured birdbath. We knew that to encourage birds to take a bath in our yard, the bath needed to be elevated. Birds feel safer when bathing like Bathsheba.
Taking a rather large clay pot, we inverted the base and placed the drip saucer on top. Asher decided to decorate our birds’ shower.
He also created a rock garden surrounding the bath house, with some leftover vacation rocks from Michigan.
There is one problem.
No birds.
However, in writing this post, it prompted me to reread the section that initiated our whole adventure into bird bathing, and I realzied that we had placed our bird bath near a bush (too easy for cats to lurk behind) and sans tree to dry and preen.
Needless to say, we will be moving our birdbath today. The new location will be under our birdhouse, as birds tend to gather on this tree.
What bird attractions do you have in your yard? (If you want some tips on how to draw birds to your lot, I highly recommend Apologia’s Flying Creatures of the 5th Day!)
I love watching the birds in our yard! We have one bird bath and one fountain that the birds love to play in. But ours aren’t as colorful and pretty as yours!
Thanks!!! My next wish is a fountain . . . what I read does mention that birds love that trickling sound!
So cute – I love it! And I would never have figured out those things about birds and bird baths. I did make a similar bird bath quite a few years ago (using some broken tiles to create a mosaic on it) out of flower pots, but I don’t remember any birds actually using it, lol.
Very fun! We just have a bird feeder but I hope to add more features eventually
We added a bird bath last year to our yard. It took a couple of weeks before the birds got used to it and were sure that it was safe. Eventually they started bathing in it and we have had so much fun watching them!! My youngest two kids have been able to identify the birds we normally see since they were 2 and 4, which amazed me! They usually can tell if a new bird has come in our yard much quicker than I notice! Anyway, the feeders and the bird bath have been sooo much fun for all of us!