Bird baths for every garden
Table of Contents
Bird baths, puddles, ponds with flat banks or streams – birds are grateful for every watering hole for drinking or bathing in summer. With a bird bath you can offer the birds and of course other animals a permanent source of water, even on the balcony they will be gladly accepted. With a bird bath, the birds quench their thirst less for currants, cherries and other juicy fruits, so that you can harvest them yourself.
For humans, bird baths are of course primarily a garden decoration and a welcome place for bird watching. For birds, on the other hand, a bird bath can be vital for survival.
Bird baths ideally have a flat zone, which is maintained both when filled and when empty.
Bird baths – practical tips
-A bird bath is basically a shallow, slowly deepening basin that should never be deeper than 5 cm.
-No smooth or sharp edges on which the birds cannot land.
-Ideally, a bird bath in a filled and almost empty state always has a place with shallow water. Seats in the shallow water can also be created with flat stones.
-A size of 25 to 40 cm is sufficient for a bird bath.
Bird baths should have a safe footing so that even inexperienced young birds can take a full bath safely.
-Garden owners with ponds will notice that many birds prefer to bathe in small bird baths than directly in the garden pond.
In principle, a large trivet made of terracotta with a few pebbles placed in it or a plastic bowl as a bird bath is enough. But real bird baths are much more decorative.
Bird baths made of granite, stone casting and many other materials are frost-resistant and can stay outside in winter.
Set up bird baths like this iron model so that the birds have a free approach.
Set up bird baths
There are no binding rules on where a bird bath should be. Birds take a place close to the house as well as a location “in the wild”. But there are a few basic rules to keep in mind:
A location in partial shade is perfect for a bird bath, which can be seen from the window to observe the animals at the bird bath.
Do not place the bird bath directly in front of a window where birds can have an accident. Birds of prey silhouettes stuck on do not slow the birds down.
Make sure that the birds have a free approach and that no stray cat can sneak up to the bird bath.
An elevated location is ideal for a bird bath, but not a must.
If the bird bath is directly on the lawn, the stalks should be kept short.
Where there are many cats, bird baths are great for hanging up. These are also ideal for balconies.
The next bush in which cats could hide should be at least three meters away so that the birds can see the surroundings.
Floating candles and petals: bird baths are a perfect decoration.
Bird baths – care tips
On hot days, the water in a bird bath evaporates so quickly that you have to refill it every day. The sun heats up the water in a bird bath quickly and it can become a breeding ground for diseases – after all, birds can drop droppings into the water when splashing around. A daily water change would of course be a great service, but is often not practical. In nature, however, there is no daily pool service that cleans puddles and other water points.
Nevertheless, you should change the water regularly and let it run over the edge for a while with each refill, in order to flush out the bird bath and remove contaminants. If feces are in the water or algae have formed, the bird bath should be emptied and cleaned with hot water and a hard brush.
For bathing, the birds stand in the water and shovel their wings over their backs.
Many birds not only like to bathe in the water of a bird bath, but also in fine sand to get rid of annoying parasites. A bowl of sand is enough. Alternatively, you can dig a small hole with a shovel at a suitable point and fill it with sand. If the sand bathing area is accepted, the sand should of course also be cleaned regularly.
High quality, indestructible and suitable for all garden styles: bird baths made of granite are knocked out of a block and thus have a natural look. They are indestructible, but also heavy. Once set up, granite bird baths are usually left in their place. A hard brush can be used to clean granite.
Stone casting consists of cement and aggregates such as sand and bark compost. Since the material can be poured, stone molds can be used to produce a wide variety of shapes. Completely dried stone castings look very natural.
Shapely bird baths can be built with the help of rhubarb leaves.
Build bird baths out of rhubarb leaves
With a large, undamaged rhubarb leaf and concrete you can make a bird bath in the form of a leaf yourself. The real leaf serves as the shape for the bird bath. The size of the bird bath is determined by the rhubarb leaf, the depth by the height of a pile of sand over which the leaf is placed to spread the concrete on it. Moisten the sand beforehand and tap it well.
Place the rhubarb leaf over a pile of sand, put concrete on top and distribute it evenly, let it dry – the bird bath is ready.
Cut off the stem of the leaf, otherwise it would protrude through the concrete and leave a hole. Brush the leaf with cooking oil and spread the concrete over it. Allow to harden and peel off the rhubarb leaf. Remove any remaining leaf from the bird bath with a hard brush. So that the gray concrete quickly gets a patina and the bird bath looks more pleasing, the concrete is given a glaze of buttermilk on which lichens settle.
