Crucial For A Harsh Winter

I spent most of New Year’s Day watching birds in our garden.  It was cold outside so I mostly just watched them through the glass of the patio door.  I took the camera out for only half an hour at a time, until I felt numbness creeping into my fingers and toes.  Since there wasn’t any snow on the ground, though it was very cold, birds were still able to find food naturally.  So there were no new critters on the feeders.  But what was interesting to me was their behavior at the birdbath.

We provide water for the birds year round but cut it down to two or three heated birdbaths during winter.  It’s a bit difficult to draw an electric cord far from the house and monitor the bath too.  Water dissipates much faster in heated birdbaths because of evaporation and the frequent use by birds.  Letting it dry up while the heater is running is not an option.

Providing fresh water for birds in winter, when an unfrozen surface is hard for them to find, does not just benefit the birds.  I enjoy watching them gathering around the rim either to drink the water or just for warmth.  When there is a lot of snow on the ground or when it’s really cold, I would see birds that do not usually come to the birdbaths as well… woodpeckers, crows.  Even the squirrels love it.

This birdbath is a little too deep for small birds so I put a stone in there to provide a shallow area so that they can bathe.  They do seem to like it.  Most of the smaller birds often land on the stone instead of the rim.  In summer the bees also like to land on it when they drink water.