Thanks for the heads-up on the pennies. I did remember reading somewhere a long time ago that they were bad for birds. I figured I'd just use the copper wire anyway. Well, next year I guess. By then, I should be able to train these country birds to take a bath once in a while!
They still haven't used the bird bath, and the water has evaporated every day, so I haven't had any slime growing. My Dad is going to love this too. He has to scrub his birdbaths every day because of the slime. His get used a LOT though. His country birds are a little classier than mine are!
And, his birdbaths are in the shade, which contributes to the growth of that green stuff.