Insect eating birds may only have to drink once a day

Birds that feed on seeds and other dry foods will drink at least two or three times

Birds can find water from ponds, puddles, rainwater that has gathered on leaves and some times from the dew

BUT  we can help by providing a constant supply of fresh water.

A lot of birds need to drink fresh water at least a couple of times a day.

We take water for granted as all we have to do is turn on a tap. No so for wildlife they are at the mercy of the elements – and we can help them survive

When frost and snow appear their water disappears.

I have put together Readers Tips for giving birds water in winter

1.  Put a plastic liner in the water bowl before you put the water in.  When the water freezes all you have to do is pull the liner off.  No more scraping out an ice filled water dish.

2.  Buy a heated dog water bowl.  This keeps the water unfrozen all the time. 

3. Try and keep an area of a pond unfrozen.  this is hard, but if a piece of wood or a ball is kept in the water it can sometimes be taken out and a small amount of water is showing.

4.  Keep defrosting the water all during the day when it is really cold ( Impossible I know, but you know what I mean)

One water dish I sometimes use has a smooth base so I put some stones in for the birds to perch on.

Water for birds in winter

Shallow dish with stones in for birds to perch on

Please let me know if you have any tips for keeping water fresh and unfrozen for our garden birds.

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Tip for freezing water in bird baths.
Use a plastic liner(old plastic bags work well) then fill with water.
Place in bird bath.
When water is frozen just lift liner out a lot easier than breaking ice up or using hot water.

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Frank sent this tip in.  Thanks Frank for this Top Tip I will start using it.  Cheers.

Happy Bird feeding and Happy Christmas

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

Often, of course, any water in the garden is frozen in winter,

I had this problem today when the pond was frozen and snowed over

I searched and searched and in the end I found this – it has proved successful today

Upturned dustbin lid used as a water bowl

The white background is actually the newly fallen snow!