You can bring joy to your backyard flocks without going to the trouble and expense—and to some, imagining the specter of surreptitious nocturnal rodents—of up-keeping bird feeders.
Birds are opportunistic feeders—a bug in the beak is worth two in the bush—even if cannier species maintain acorn and seed caches. Nor are they circumspect about having a quick drink: a drop of dew, sip from a puddle, draft from a drainpipe—all afford vital hydration. In times of freeze or drought, refreshed watering oases are lifesavers and bird magnets. If you put out birdbaths, even makeshift ones, a sip of Adam’s ale can afford our winged brethren sustenance, especially in these uncertain, and often parched, times.
During summer heat and all-season dry spells, I fill two garden bird baths nearly every day. The one in the shade, between the verbena and garage, is a brown plastic rimmed “pizza” dish, 16” across and 2” deep. A flat rock in the middle anchors it and affords a central perch. A sparrow or titmouse can enjoy a quick fluff bath, but it’s tight for a jay. The one in full sun is a ribbed oval “conch shell” of gray resin, about 1×2 feet, set in the herb garden. Both rest on old concrete pedestals (or you could improvise other supports to keep baths two to four feet off the ground) strategically placed nowhere near windows (flight hazards) or ambush corners (to thwart pouncing predators, e.g., your cat.)
Maintenance is a breeze: hose out the plastic dish and/or pick leaves and debris out of the conch to avoid grime and stagnation that might breed bacteria or larvae. No chemicals, please.
When the extended fall drought turns chill, I heat a coffee carafe for hot water to melt hoar-frost riming the surfaces. This steady liquid contribution to birds’ diets as flora shrivels and dries out proves immediately welcome, even vital. Yet the avian acceptance seems modest compared to this gratified reception recorded by fellow Belmontonian Bruce Aguilar:
“Yesterday and today I put out water in our granite birdbath. All of a sudden, a host of robins, cardinals, starlings, grackles, a Red-bellied or a Downy Woodpecker, a Northern Flicker, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a House Wren, and lots of Dark-eyed Juncos arrived to take drinks. Once in a while, a Blue Jay would come in and scatter the group to take a drink itself. It was wonderful to see how a small offering can benefit so many beings.”
Dark-eyed Junco. Photo: Idajo Fish and Game Department
– Fred Bouchard
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