Water for Birds
Birds can’t take drinking water for granted. We just turn on a tap. Birds are at the mercy of nature.
Droughts in summer. Frozen water in winter.
Either way birds often cannot find fresh water.
Making sure there is a supply of fresh water available for all the birds to drink will help a lot of birds - and will attract birds to your garden.
A lot of birds need to drink fresh water at least a couple of times a day.
It is so easy to put fresh water out in any small container. If you have a minute to spare put a small container of water out in the garden for our feathered friends.
TOP TIP
If the container has a smooth base put some stones in the bottom. This gives birds something to perch and grip on as they are drinking
TWO REASONS WHY BIRDS NEED WATER
Birds need water for
- Drinking
- Bathing
In summer providing water is important.
Providing water all year round is important
Birds bathe all year round.
I think it’s seems strange that in winter especially it’s vital for birds to bathe.
Bathing keeps birds feathers in good condition.
In winter this becomes vital because feathers in good condition keep birds warm through the freezing cold nights.
Strange but true. In winter, it’s good for birds to hop into freezing cold water to bathe, This helps them keep warm in freezing dark nights.
So if you start putting water out don’t stop! Keep fresh water in your garden all the time.
-0-0-0-0
PROVIDING WATER BY BUILDING A GARDEN POND
A few years ago we built a garden pond. Because
- we thought it would look nice and
- we would have less grass to cut.
The main reason this pond is a delight to look at is because of the variety of birds that visit the pond daily to enjoy the fresh water.
It is fascinating to watch them drink and bathe at the edge of the pond
By more good luck than management we made one side of the pond a gradual slope. The other sides are sloping, but more steeply. The gradual slope makes it easy for the birds to stay in the shallow edge of the water.
When we built the pond we also built a ledge in
-0-0-0-0-0-
It’s a lovely sunny day here and the garden pond is a hive of activity.
I can see the flurry of bird wings and the ripple of water as birds bathe at the edge of this pond.
We get birds as small as sparrows to as large as Rooks at the pond.
The other day we had a young hare sitting at the edge of the pond. It was sat there for ages nibbling the fresh green shoots at the steep side of the pond. At one time it was so near the edge of the water we thought it would tumble in and we would have one bedraggled young hare. Can young hares swim? In the end it must have decided it had eaten enough and sloped away into the hedge. I have never been able to watch a young hare at such close quarters before. We usually only catch a glimpse of them in the fields.
-0-0-0-0-0-0
We often hear about how important putting bird food out is for out native birds.
Putting water out is just as important and very easy to do.
