Bathing Beauties

Birds need food and shelter, but adding a birdbath really ups the attractiveness of your yard. Water attracted birds to my yard that didn’t come for the feeder offerings. My birdbath was a large, but rather shallow saucer, which sat on a low stand. I would put the water out in spring as soon as it would not freeze and the birdbath remained in operation until the water started to freeze in the fall. I constantly rinsed, scrubbed and refilled the bath, to keep it clean and safe for all. Smaller birds that were too nervous to go into the birdbath were attracted to the flow coming out of the hose when I watered my evergreens. While the birdbath may have had clean water, they were happy with a mud puddle!

American Robins love water, but being a big and aggressive bird, many times they took over the birdbath. Smaller birds would sit on the rim, getting showered by a splashing robin. I watched fledgling robins chased out of the bath by adults. This didn’t stop the younger birds from enjoying a bath; they would fluff out their feathers and rub themselves in the wet grass beneath the birdbath. I had robins and Red-winged Blackbirds battle over the birdbath. The blackbird chased the robin out for a few moments, but the robin usually was able to bully its way back into the water. Another bird that took over the birdbath was the Mourning Dove. It did very little bathing in the water and was more likely to wade in and stand belly-deep in the water for long periods of time.

Even raptors need to keep their feathers clean and in good condition. On rare occasions, I would see a Cooper’s Hawk land in the birdbath (see picture at top). Obviously, it’s appearance would clear the yard and it would get the water all to itself.

Male House Sparrow

House Sparrows reminded me of little kids in a wading pool. A dozen would hop in the birdbath at the same time, splashing and chirping away. Those birds also loved their dust baths. They would leave a series of little pockets in the dirt beneath our trees. Again, they would be in there tossing dirt over their backs and squabbling with each other. Once, I saw a Northern Flicker notice the dust-bathing sparrows. It flew into the area, scattering the smaller birds. It proceeded to fling dirt all over its body and up in the air. Flickers, robins, Common Grackles and Mourning Doves love to stretch out on the lawn and sun themselves. In the summer months, the view from the window was one big pool party.

Male Northern Flicker

Note: All photos are from Wikipedia Commons, an online source of copyright-free photos: Cooper’s Hawk in birdbath by Mike’s Birds; House Sparrow by Charles J. Sharp; Northern Flicker by Barbara Schelkle.