Bird Bath & All You Need To Know In Keeping Your Backyard Birds Happy

Bird bath, bird house, and bird feeder are all essentials in keeping your feathered friends happy. Here’s how you can have the best bird bath, bird house, and bird refuge on the block!

Bird Bath To Make Your Backyard A Destination For Birds

Aren’t wild birds simply awesome? Chirping beautiful songs in the morning as you wake up, visiting your bird bath in the evening for a little bath, nesting in the birdhouse you made yourself… doesn’t that sound amazing? To me it does, and to some of you it probably does too, for others, you just don’t understand the pleasure. Why don’t you just hang up a bird feeder and see for yourself how those little-feathered souls turn your life around towards the best!

1. Hang Up A Bird Feeder

There is a reason why bird feeders are the most popular item bought to attract birds. Birds love feeders. Who doesn’t love free food? Imagine: coming to your bird house after a fly at the beach and visiting a restaurant for free on your way there. You’d feel like royalty, wouldn’t you? If you go to a local hardware store or pet shop, you’ll discover a huge variety of feeders. Some have suction cups so they can get stuck to windows, others have rods so they can get attached to posts or walls.

Then there are suet feeders. They are like cakes made from beef fat and usually have seeds added. They are very nutritious and high in protein, and from my experience, birds like suet feeders more than normal feeders! Most people buy little boxes made from chicken wire to slip the suet inside.

Do not put up feeders close to windows because birds will be scared of you and won’t visit them. You also don’t want them to crash into your window, this is not good for the bird. Also avoid hanging them where rain water will gather and pour down, as bird seeds will rot if they get wet. Make sure to wash your feeder with mild soap every time you add seeds.

2. Add A Bird Bath

Most people think that bird baths are useless to attract birds, as the only purpose they serve is for decoration. That is incorrect! Birds love bird baths almost as much as bird feeders. Actually, birds need the bird baths just as much as seeds! Birds need to bathe because bugs cling to them and could be deadly. Birds also need to stay hydrated. These are two reasons why birds need bird baths!

Just keep in mind that bird baths aren’t deep, and if you’re planning on making one yourself, make it shallow 1 inch to 3 inches max.

A bird bath should be placed in a sunny area, preferably near a food source such as grass or a feeder. The reason for this is because birds enjoy a drink of water before and after having food. Birds are also very clean animals so they enjoy having a little bathe after having food.

Make sure that a bird bath is placed as far away from your birdhouse or nesting box as possible, as birds don’t nest in places where birds visit often. As I mentioned before, bird baths are very important. They provide water, a place to bathe and relax, and it can double as a very beautiful feature to your yard!

The ones that are built to be hung up are usually just a shallow plate with string. Some are built for standing on the ground. These ones are usually about 2 feet in height. And have one thin leg with a plate on top. The water added to bird baths should be chlorine free. Change the water every week, and rinse with a hose. Do not use soap!

The problem with bird baths is that mosquitoes lay their eggs in the water and they reproduce within days! To stop this, you can buy little tablets made to add to water. Some are okay for animals and others aren’t. Make sure to check the label, as those that are dangerous for animals can kill birds!

3. Build Birdhouses Or Nesting Boxes

I hate seeing birds fly out of my backyard, and I’m sure most people do, too. But there is a simple solution, build the birdies a home! That way they can live in your backyard! If you want to add bird houses to your backyard, you have three options.

Option 1: Buy A Bird House That Has Already Been Made

Some of these are made for decoration, they aren’t liked by birds, and they probably won’t nest in them. Then there are other ones which are expensive, but birds love them! They normally are made of wood, aren’t painted, and have a hood so the house doesn’t get wet from the rain.

Option 2: Buy A DIY Bird House Kit

These just are generally sold at craft stores. And just like with the first choice, some can be cheap but not good and others can be expensive but very good. The kit will contain pieces of wood (already cut into the pieces you need), nails, and all the building materials.

Option 3: Make One Yourself

Most of the bird houses I’ve got I’ve made myself, and birds like them the most.

A good bird house should…

• Have ventilation slots
• Have a hood/roof from the rain
• Be made from non-treated wood
• Have a door or removable wall (so it can be opened and cleaned by humans if needed).

4. Plant Trees And Shrubs

Trees and shrubs have important roles in birds’ lives. They provide shelter, fresh air and food. They are essential!

When choosing a tree or shrub, keep in mind that birds love berries. However, fallen fruit will attract wasps and bees. Birds love bushy and leafy plants. However, you won’t be able to see birds when they’re inside bushy plants. The bigger the tree or shrub is the more big birds it will attract.

Here is a list of trees that birds love:

1. American Holly
2. Black Cherry
3. Cascara Buckthorn
4. Mountain Ash
5. Dogwood; Silky, Flowering, Gray, Red­ Osier, etc
6. Pin Cherry
7. Red Mulberry
8. White Mulberry
9. Serviceberry
10. Flowering Dogwood
11. Hackberry
12. Hawthorns
13. Madrone
14. Red Cedar
15. Sour Gum
16. Eastern Red Cedar

These shade trees are excellent especially if you love hanging out outdoors! Check this out. #GardeningTips https://t.co/s9cNjQXHwJ

— Homesteading (@HomesteadingUSA) August 15, 2017

Here is a list of shrubs that birds love:

1. Blackberry, Raspberry
2. Chokeberry
3. Chokecherry
4. Dogwood shrubs
5. Elderberry
6. Shadbush
7. Snowberry
8. Viburnums
9. Bayberry
10. Blackhawk
11. Cotoneaster
12. Highbush Cranberry
13. Holly
14. Mistletoe
15. Sumac
16. Highbush blueberry
17. Nannyberry
18. Winterberry

5. Moving Water Is A Must

Water attracts birds. Moving water attracts bird even more! I just can’t express how much birds love moving water. I once got a tiny fountain, and oh boy it was a hit! Every time I peeked out my window to look at it, I could see a minimum of 3 birds relaxing there.

If you’re new to the bird attraction business, installing a mini pond or mini waterfall is probably a big step for you, am I right?

Digging up your backyard and filling it with water may not sound so attractive to some! However you don’t have to turn your yard upside down, just to make birds happy, you can make a mini pond from a bucket! Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

Here are good ideas of moving water:

• Pond
• Fountain
• Mini waterfall (a normal one wouldn’t fit, right?)

Some Things To Remember:

• Don't ever disturb your birds! Cleaning the bird house should only be done if they've moved out.
• Do not add chlorine or bleach to bird baths! Not only does it kill mosquitoes but birds too.

Here's my favorite source of moving water: a mini pond in a bucket! It is so easy to make, check out this video from emmymadeinjapan:

Alright, my friends, that is how you create a bird paradise in your own backyard! Try it out, don’t be shy! Even hanging up 1 bird feeder to a post in your yard will attract hundreds of birds weekly! If you’re new to attracting birds and don’t quite know the pleasure of watching wild birds you soon will! Good luck!

Are you ready to invite more feathered friends in your backyard? Let us know in the comments section below.

Up Next: Keeping Bully Birds at Bay And Protecting Your Garden

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Editor’s Note – This post was originally published on September 2015 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.