Bird baths

[oasisjack]

Hi,
I have a Do-It-Yourself birdbath which is an old dustbin with the lid upside down filled with water with a stone in the middle.
Plenty of birds drink from it but none have yet bathed and its been there about 3 months now.
Any ideas why this is? Could it be that the waters too deep or that its too close to the feeders?

[Bebe]

Good morning Oasisjack.
Try positioning your birdbath next to a wood panel fence. You can then see if & when it's being used by the splashes on the fence!! May work on a patch of paving as well.

[Ben]

Hi,
I have a Do-It-Yourself birdbath which is an old dustbin with the lid upside down filled with water with a stone in the middle.
Plenty of birds drink from it but none have yet bathed and its been there about 3 months now.
Any ideas why this is? Could it be that the waters too deep or that its too close to the feeders?

We bought a lovely bird bath from a garden centre a couple of years ago, have yet to see a bird bathe in it, yet when we filled an empty ice cream carton with water:) the black birds loved to bathe in it

[Bebe]

My bird bath was also a bought one & was well used all winter until it disintegrated in the frost. However, after a shower, there was the blackbird bathing in an inch of water amongst the shattered remains of my birdbath! The pigeon couldn't fit into the remains, so he tried to bath in my rainwater bucket until he tipped it over in his enthusiasm. The moral of this story seems to be, if your birds are settled, they will use anything to bath & drink from.

[Kerry L]

We have a large, old drip tray for plants that is filled with water. The birds don't like fresh water (cheek - it's filtered) and tend to use it more when there is algae and dirt on the bottom. I don't think depth matters as long as it isn't too deep for small birds to drown in. Ours is about an inch and a half (for those who use foreign measurements - I'm English and I use Imperial) and I have seen a sparrow do one length then turn around and swim back again, thoroughly enjoying herself! I find that when one bird decides to have a bath, they all want to, sometimes fighting over it, but more usually queuing in an orderly manner!
Many years ago I brought up a baby sparrow which had fallen from it's nest and was totally bald. As she grew she became quite a character and from a box of multi-coloured tissues, she pulled out only the pink ones to bathe on. It was really funny to watch her scoot around the floor on a pink hanky!

[optrex]

I've seen other brands of "watering dishes" that fit on the feeder poles. Does anyone know if CJW intend to supply one?

[Chris]

Co-incidentally enough water baths have been bumped up in priority on the "new product development" list. I'll take the suggestion of a garden-pole mounted water dish to the next marketing meeting.

Thanks,

[optrex]

Thanks Chris

[Kerry L]

It took a while for me to discover, but the birds much prefer rain water from our water butt. An upturned frisbee left out by the children also worked well as a bird bath.
Regards, Kerry