Birds get hot and thirsty just like people do. Your favourite flying friends may be cooking in their feathers, especially during the hot summer months. Give the birds in your area a place to splash, play, bathe, and drink by putting out a bird bath. Bird baths are important for the health and happiness of birds in your area, especially if there aren't any springs, ponds, lakes, or streams nearby. A bird bath will not only help your feathered friends, but it will also bring all kinds of birds to your yard so you and your family can watch them.
Think about it: if you were a bird, where would you want to splash around? Would you choose a dirty, smelly puddle or a clean, fresh bird bath? The choice is clear to humans, but birds also have a clear favourite. Once you've decided to help the birds in your area, you'll need to go out and find a bath that fits in with your yard's style. There are many different kinds of baths, from ones that look like the white marble columns of ancient Greece to ones that are so modern they could be mistaken for an avant garde statue.
After you bring your bird bath home, find a place to put it where it can be seen from both inside and outside. Consider putting a bird bath near your porch, patio, deck, or house windows so you can watch birds from anywhere in your home. Fill the bird bath with clean, cool water and watch as the birds gather around it.
If you want to attract more birds, you might want to use a bird bath with a fountain instead of one that just holds still water. Birds like the sound of running water, so they like fountain bird baths much more than bird baths with still water. If you can't afford a bird bath with a fountain, you could make your own fountain. A simple bucket with a hole in the bottom that you put on top of your existing bird bath works just as well as an expensive fountain bird bath, though it might not look as nice.
Keep in mind that birds need bird baths all year, even in places where Jack Frost doesn't seem to be a problem. Instead of bringing your bird bath indoors for the winter, buy one that can stay outside all year. Heated bird baths keep the water from freezing, but they don't make a hot tub for the birds, so they'll keep coming to your yard no matter the weather.
