I suppose this will be my annual plea to fellow birders to put out a heated bird bath. Our little friends need water, especially in freezing weather, to survive. Many, many people put out feeders – something like $500 million is spent annually on bird seed, but for bird baths – not so much.
I have a ton of songbirds in my yard, but it didn’t happen by accident. I provide multiple food sources and seed varieties, but we maintain 2 heated water sources, actually three now with our goldfish pond, which is also heated. And the birds respond by calling our yard home.
We first drew bluebirds – some 20 years ago – to our yard with a simple birdbath. Bluebirds love water and they love to bathe, and they stuck around. We have had bluebirds nesting ever since. They were in the bird bath this morning. It was 20 degrees but the small heater in the birdbath worked like a charm. And all our birds have water to drink. Birds can go several days without food, but they need water, or they will perish.
We use a small, low-energy heater to keep the water from freezing. It uses hardly any power, and we use an extension cord from the house to the birdbath some 30 feet away. A bird bath is safer for bird if it’s near some sort of cover, perhaps under a limb. This keeps hawks at bay as they need a clear shot at their prey.
Your bird bath needn’t be concrete, it can be a simple pottery bowl, a couple feet wide and 3- or 4-inches deep. But a heater is necessary to keep the water from freezing. If you really want to attract birds, put out a bird bath, and heat it. If you build one, they will come.