Bird bath guide
Birds want a wide, shallow puddle with somewhere to stand. Measure your bath to check its depth, then keep it clean and safe with the checklist.
A few changes will make it safer Cornell Lab
- Edge no deeper than 1 in. 1 in at the edge: small birds can wade in.
- Middle no deeper than 2 in. 3 in in the middle: add about 1 in of flat stones or gravel.
- Gently sloping from edge to middle. The edge is shallower than the middle, so birds can pick their depth.
A few changes will make it safer RSPB
- Middle no deeper than about 10 cm. 12 cm in the middle: add about 2 cm of flat stones or gravel.
- Gently sloping from edge to middle. The edge is shallower than the middle, so birds can pick their depth.
- Ideally more than 30 cm across. 35 cm across: room for several birds to splash.
Bird bath checklist
Ticks are saved on this device.
Depth
The Cornell Lab suggests no more than 1 in (2.5 cm) of water at the edges, sloping to 2 in (5 cm) in the middle; many concrete garden baths are deeper and slippery. The RSPB’s ideal is very shallow sloping sides, about 10 cm at the deepest and more than 30 cm across. Too deep? Add flat stones or gravel, which also give birds a place to stand.
Placement
Bathing birds are easy prey. Leave open ground between the bath and thick shrubs or long grass where a cat could hide. In hot months, shade helps, and branches nearby give birds somewhere to preen. Birds seem to prefer baths at ground level, though raised ones work too; dripping water draws them in.
Cleaning and winter
The RSPB says to replace the water daily and scrub the bath weekly with hot soapy water, rinsing well; if you can’t, it is better not to offer one. The Cornell Lab says every day or two, which also stops mosquito larvae. In freezing weather, a floating ball, warm water or a heater keeps some water open. Never add antifreeze, salt or glycerine.
Questions
Tap water or rainwater?
The RSPB advises tap water, which is likely to protect better against disease. If your water is chloraminated, use it only in a raised bath and fill a ground-level one with rainwater from a covered butt.
Does a bath need to stay ice-free?
Not critically, says the Cornell Lab: birds can get water from snow. A plastic bowl set out daily helps, and heaters should be plugged into a ground-fault (GFCI) circuit.
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds: Attract Birds With Birdbaths (depth, ground level, cats, shade, stones, dripping water, changing water every day or two, heaters, no antifreeze or glycerin); Project FeederWatch, Feeding Birds (scrubbing baths weekly).
- RSPB: Make the perfect bird bath (shallow sloping sides, about 10 cm deep, more than 30 cm across, open ground, daily water and weekly cleaning, keeping it ice-free, no chemicals) and Feeding birds near you (tap water and chloraminated water).