How do birds find bird baths
Rather than seeking out a bird bath to use, common yard birds would use a bird bath if spotted in the air, but only when its needed to bathe or drink to re-hydrate.
How do birds find bird baths is purely by accident, they could be flying over it but notice a glisten of light reflected off the water, thus perch on the rim to bathe or drink. Birds may also be drawn to a solar powered, fountain bird bath as the noise of running water can be a draw to birds that need water.
Rest assured, any old bird bath you can buy would be sufficient enough for backyard birds to use, with no bird bath being better than the next.
However, a more colorful, attractive bird bath can have its benefits, but so to can one that uses a water pump to create a fountain effect.
Birds scour the sky above so the bird bath must be seen, only then can they quickly make up their minds on whether to use the bird bath or not; its sure to be used more when any part of the country is experiencing long spells of dry weather.
Glistening of water is a way for birds to spot only a small round bowl of water in a pedestal style bird baths.
Whereas a bird bath tucked under cover, or a hanging bird bath situated under coverage of a tree - would indeed be near impossible to spot - so therefore rarely used at all.
Backyard birds will continue to use bird baths when its needed, so its important to have faith in your own bath setup - but know its used far less than any type of bird feeder.
With little to no use in your bird bath, don't take this as a reason not to keep up maintenance of your bird bath, as mold and algae will continue to develop in your own bird bath, whether wild birds visit or not.
Bird bath found on accident
Believe it or not, the finding of a bird bath set up in ones yard comes to a common backyard bird on accident.
There is no flying over a town or neighborhood in search of a bird bath, but more so found by chance.
While a wild bird might actually see the bird bath, this is still not a guarantee the said bird would use it, let alone never to come back to it.
In order for a wild bird to use your bird bath when its only the one time they may see it, its essential to create a safe, encouraging environment, as to not deter birds from ever using it - but to force them to come down to investigate.
How the bird bath is seen by birds who mostly use bird baths - namely Robins, Bluebirds and Chickadees - including pigeons and crows, its then vital to make sure its seen.
Locate the bird bath near natural coverage but not so it cannot be seen from above, its therefore important to make sure its out in the open.
If your garden landscape lacks natural coverage, such as trees, hedgerows or something simple as grass or plants, then make it a colorful bird bath to draw their eyes to it.
Return to old feeding grounds
Rather than asking how do birds find bird baths, it could be the bird bath is merely stumbled upon once they arrive back to their regular feeding haunt on a daily basis.
Imagine it like this, as you set up hanging bird feeder, a bird feeding station or an attractive bird feeding platform for birds to feed off, one day a bird bath appears out of nowhere.
So its might not always be about birds finding a bird bath on accident, but more so the attraction of a bird bath bought to them.
Rather than finding a bird bath then, the bird bath is presented to them by you.
Whether its a time when backyard birds feel they need it if lack of water source is found in nature, or they could happily go without with no shortage of water; it would help then to make sure the bird bath is setup in spring through summertime, depending on where you live in the States.
It has to be said, rarely do backyard birds actually use a bird bath, but to maintain one near a set of bird feeders would certainly help to encourage them when the timing is right.
Birds return to bird feeders almost on time, every time, with little failure in doing so.
You can then jump on their dependence on bird feeders by setting up a bird bath so they can re-hydrate when times are hard, while bathing to keep clean their feathers.
Glisten of water seen in air
Sure enough, as your most common backyard bird sears across the sky above your house or nearby, it could be a glisten of water that can attract them to any bird bath.
Safety is paramount mind you, so movement such as kids playing or dogs rummaging near by to said bird bath, it would then be guaranteed to be ignored.
However, that glisten of water where the sun or simply the bright blue sky reflected in the water, can be enough for birds to find the bird bath, just like that.
The angle or being directly above the bird bath can have its say, but its only when a bird is in flight the glistening of water can be seen.
More so, any wind that causes the bird bath water to ripple, would indeed help it be seen better from about in the sky.
Nothing else to do then other than making sure the bird bath never runs out of water.
Replenish the bird bath as clean water would create that reflected surface, with a glisten of water as seen in the air.
Allowing water to go stale with a coverage of leafs or dirt would simply hide any presence of water. That's important to know as birds don't recognize a bird bath like they do a bird feeder they come to know as a place to feed.
Noise of running water
Talking about a glisten of water as seen in the air, what better way than to enhance that reflection by setting up a simple, yet cheap solar powered water fountain.
No need to go out and buy a solar powered bird bath either, as a cheap solar powered pump is all you need to create a water source that is sure to be found, or at least seen by passing birds.
Creating a bird bath with moving water can have benefits to keeping it maintained, but a fountain bird bath has its other benefits too.
That is the noise made when water is repelled into the air while falling back into the bird bath - or it could be just a gentle trickle of water that is needed.
Birds may find the bird bath with the tempting noise of a gentle stream of water; whereas no noise bird baths are far harder to find or seen by accident.
Fountain bird baths don't create a noise that is generated by the operation of the pump, so the noise should only come from the natural water fountain movement.
Remember bird bath location
What can be more important in how birds find a bird bath is where is its located in your yard, if its out of sight it certainly won't be seen by birds flying by.
Its not all about how birds find bird baths, because it relies a lot on the person who has setup the bird bath.
In positioning a bird bath in your yard, only do so where it can be seen from above.
You can position the bird bath near a bird feeder where it can't be seen from birds flying over, all while only accommodating birds that land in your backyard to feed only.
Well, here is the problem with that, you will only be catering to a small number of common backyard birds - and even they are not guaranteed to ever use the bird bath.
What you must do then is situate the bird bath centeral to your yard on the patio or lawn, with no coverage or shelter above so it can be spotted from all angles.
Birds enjoy a bird bath located near natural coverage as it offers them protection as they quickly escape from unexpected activity, so to attract birds to a bird bath, do make sure the area is attractive to them.
To conclude how birds find baths
How birds find a bird bath is purely by accident, as they scour the sky in search of a food source, a bird bath can be a tempting proposition to them as well.
In times of drought, a water source could be a priority to them, so the glisten of water as seen from above is sure to draw them to it.
Be it a bird bath, pond or a puddle from the garden hose, when water is short with lack of rainfall, the bird bath would get used for sure.
Its therefore important to remember a bird bath can be found, but its rare to see birds use it unless its absolutely necessary.
Actually, its quite common to see a bird bath not so much be found, but more so be presented to them - as people tend to think a bird bath go hand in hand with their bird feeder set up - when in reality it can be difficult to get birds to use a bird bath.
How your common backyard bird will notice a bird bath is either with a glisten of water or attracted to a reflection in the water, as they fly over it.
But more importantly, the noise of running water, such as a solar powered fountain bird bath - can draw birds to it where a static bird bath can mostly go unnoticed.
Concentrate on setting up the bird bath in an unrestricted way, so it can be seen in the air but always accessed with ease on the ground.
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