For these reasons, a dependable supply of fresh, clean water is attractive to most birds. In fact, a birdbath will even bring to your yard birds that don’t eat seeds and wouldn’t visit your feeders. Providing water for birds can also improve the quality of your backyard bird habitat and should provide you with a fantastic opportunity to observe bird behavior.
Setting up a Birth Bath
Materials:
• One shallow pan such as an old cake pan, not more than 2 inches (5 cm) deep. Or, use a flower-pot tray: the flat, shallow tray or pan that's used under a flower pot so it won't drip when watered. This should also be less than 2 inches (5 cm) deep.
• A few large pebbles or a flat rock
Steps:
Choose a good site to place the bath. The ground should be level. There should be some evergreens or other shrubs nearby. Pick a site where you can easily watch the birds from a window.
Set the pan or tray down and fill it with water. Be sure the water is only about an inch (2.5 cm) to an inch-and-a-half (3.8 cm) deep.
Toss in a few large pebbles or a flat stone. These will give the birds confidence to enter the water because it will help them judge how deep the water is.
Source:
- www. palathully.com
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478)
- How to Make a Birdbath (http://www.audubon.org/news/how-make-birdbath)