Hello.

Anyone who's owned a bird bath...please give me some feedback/ideas. What do you use? What works? This is for a heavily wooded property...we saw our first hooded warbler yesterday and someone suggested that this species is shy but would enjoy a bird bath. We don't want anything fancy/decorative....we need something functional that birds will actually use. Do birds even really use bird baths?

Thanks for any/all input!

Yes, birds do use baths, both for bathing and fresh water. They are drawn to running or bubbling water, but that isn't a deal breaker. Keep the water fairly shallow and/or add in submerged rocks to accommodate different sizes of birds. Any container will work. I have one which is a hammered copper dish that I wedge in the crook of a tree. It is perhaps 1.5" deep. I've seen a simple set up of a tomato cage with a plant saucer sitting in the top ring. Look around and see what you might have that would work, then experiment with placement. Birds like some sort of cover - a nearby shrub or tree - so they can quickly hide if threatened. Some folks add copper pennies to their baths for keep algae growth down. I position my bird friendly water sources near a hose bib and just dump and refill frequently. Good luck on your stewardship. And welcome to NGA.

Thanks so much for the advice Deb! I like the idea of something wedged in the fork of a tree...I'll start with that!

Clean it out thoroughly periodically and completely empty it and rinse out very frequently to deter mosquitoes from using it to breed. In my area, there can be mosquito larva wiggling around within 3 days of putting out containers of water, not sure about how long it takes in other areas. During mosquito season I keep reminding myself about checking my wildlife water containers these days. Right now, my water containers put outside the fence usually go empty overnight. With temps very high here and no rain in a couple of weeks all the animals are thirsty.

I also put baths on the ground for other critters to enjoy too....seen the birds at them as well.