A reader has emailed me about the need to supply water for birds in a garden, especially where people put out a wide range of food in various containers. One short answer is a garden pond which, if the design is right, will supply the needs not only of birds but also a wide variety of wildlife from dragonflies to frogs and fish to water beetles. However, ponds are not always practical in some gardens and in any case they may well be sited away from a feeding station for birds. It may seem to us that even a pond some distance away is not too far to fly but that needs energy so the nearer the water the better. As with the food containers and the food, there is a wide variety of bird baths to choose from and it is often difficult to select the right one for the birds’ needs.
Garden Centres are good places to start looking, particularly as some bird baths such as those on pedestals are seen as a garden ornament in their own right. This is where one of the problems over choosing a bird bath may arise as such garden ornaments can be very expensive indeed. To start with it is worth looking at what the birds will need rather than our own ideas on aesthetic design. To start with the birds will obviously need to actually drink some water but it goes much further than that. Water is essential to keep those all important feathers in a good state. Clean dry plumage provides better insulation against the cold and, conversely, the heat. This will ensure that the birds stay clean and healthy. Whilst water depth may not be important for drinking, it will be for the basic washing and feather maintenance. For example, a robin will need a different depth of water than say a blackbird or a wood pigeon. So the water needs to vary in depth to cope for this and the bottom of the bird bath needs to be fairly rough so that the birds’ feet can get a suitable grip.
As for design, well I have tried various types such as ones that hang from a branch whilst another, an expensive metal one, has a tall pedestal. Each have their advantages but the latest one I use has been, by far, the most successful. It was not designed as a bird bath in the first place as it is a tray used for putting seedlings in and therefore is cheap and easy to get from a Garden Centre. It is a large tray at 21 inches by 21 inches and only 2 inches deep. This is adequate to take a blackbird who wants to wash but the water depth, that does not vary, is not suitable for very small birds such as siskin or chaffinch. So on the tray are two flat stones of varying thickness and this gives the different depths the smaller birds will need. The tray is just laid on the ground which has the added advantage that the birds that cannot fly can walk direct to the edge of the water. They can also walk into the water to wash and my best views this year was the brood of eight very small mallard ducklings all having a bath at the same time. The duckling in the photograph is drinking and throwing its head back to swallow the water.
Tags: highland wildlife