The key to attracting birds to your backyard is more than providing the food the various species need. Birds also require cover for protection and water to survive.
Choosing what to feed birds is easy. Wildlife stores, hardware stores, and businesses that cater to farming and other agricultural folks sell a variety of seeds, suet, and feeders needed for our feathered friends.
Homeowners are responsible for establishing the necessary habitat for protection, perching, and nesting. Planting a variety of native trees, shrubs, plants, and grasses helps to attract a wide variety of birds.
Too often, however, setting out water is overlooked as a necessary ingredient for birds. Water completes the avian trifecta for attracting birds.
Obviously, birds need water for hydration. And just like people, birds need water to keep themselves clean. Birds bathe often to maintain their feathers, rid themselves of dust and mites, and cool down in hot weather. Most birds prefer ground-level birdbaths, but some come to elevated ones.
Adding a small water pump, fountain, or even a small waterfall increases the likelihood of attracting birds to water, especially songbirds. Birds will hear the trickling sound and take that as an invitation to drink and bathe.
Different species have particular ways of drinking. Blue Jays gulp their water by tipping back their head and chugging it down. Mourning Doves are the opposite. They only dip the end of their beaks into the water and daintily sip until satisfied. Northern Cardinals take their time, seemingly enjoying their refreshing liquid.
Birds even use water to clean their beaks of residue, such as seed shells. American Robins bring nesting material to dampen it, making the straw or dried grass more pliable. But it is critical to keep the water and the birdbath basins filled and clean.
As larger birds like Common Grackles, American Robins, and Blue Jays bathe, they splash water out of the containers with their vigorous movements. It’s important to keep the water level full so the pump won’t burn up.
Birds tend to keep their nests neat. They carry fecal sacks containing their babies’ unwanted excrement. Unfortunately, Common Grackles are known to drop those gross sacks in the birdbaths. So, ensuring the birdbaths are clean and filled with fresh water is critical for keeping birds healthy.
Cleaning birdbaths should be done regularly, following a few easy steps. Discard any water left in the bath. Sprinkle a powdery cleaning compound, such as Comet, around the bowl, and use a soft brush to scrub it around to remove any slim, dirt, or other residue. When finished, rinse that out, and refill the birdbath with clean water.
In addition to establishing bird feeders, providing water enhances birds’ attraction. Adding a small pump surrounded by mostly flat stones to create a gurgling sound also brings birds, both migrating and residents, to feeders and birdbaths. The stones provide perches for the smaller songbirds. If the water slows, the pump will likely need to be cleaned as well.
It’s best to remove the pump during the winter months to avoid freezing. The water can be kept from freezing by adding a birdbath heater.
Placing both feeders and birdbaths in locations easily viewed through a window lets you see the benefits of your efforts. In the end, the birds reap the rewards.
Find instructions for what items are needed to build a birdbath at https://warblerfall.com/.
© Bruce Stambaugh 2026
Roadkill Crossing 
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