How to attract · guide

How to Attract Birds to a Bird Bath

How to attract birds to a bird bath rests on one FeederWatch sentence: because birds need water for drinking and bathing, they are attracted to water just as they are to feeders ¹.

The setup and cleaning advice below is FeederWatch's ¹; the case for water as year-round habitat is Audubon's ³; window safety is from All About Birds ².

American robin at a bird bath — how to attract birds to a bird bath starts with shallow, fresh, moving water — Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How to attract birds to a bird bath: shape and placement

You can buy a bird bath or simply use dishes or shallow pans; birds seem to prefer baths at ground level, but raised baths attract birds as well ¹. If the bath is on the ground, arrange a few branches or stones in the water so birds can stand on them and drink without getting wet — particularly important in winter ¹. Like a feeder, a bath belongs near cover that birds can retreat to, but not beside branches a cat can ambush from ¹.

One of the best ways to make a bird bath more attractive is dripping water: buy a dripper or sprayer, or recycle a bucket or plastic container by punching a tiny hole in the bottom, filling it and hanging it above the bath so water drips out ¹. Audubon adds that the sound of running water is particularly attractive to birds and may bring them flocking during migration ³.

Keeping bird bath water safe

Change the water every day to keep it fresh and clean ¹. Replace it as often as possible — every couple of days at minimum — and if you see cloudy water, mold growth or bird droppings, empty the bath and scrub it out; scrub baths regularly, weekly ¹. Keep the ground below feeders and baths clean as well ¹.

In freezing climates a bird-bath heater keeps ice from forming. Never add antifreeze; it is poisonous to all animals, including birds ¹.

Keep the birds you attract safe: windows, cats, clean feeders

Window collisions kill perhaps a billion or more birds a year in North America, and far more die at homes and low-rise buildings than at high-rises simply because there are so many of them ². Older rules about safe feeder-to-window distances are no longer thought valid; the fix is to make the glass visible — markings spaced no more than 2 inches apart on the outside, exterior screens, or hanging cords ¹².

Cats are the most numerous pet in North America and kill hundreds of millions of birds each year; ground-feeding birds, ground-nesting birds and fledglings are at greatest risk, and feeder birds are easy prey, so FeederWatch strongly recommends keeping cats indoors ¹. Clean seed and suet feeders every week or two — more often in heavy use or wet weather — with warm water and dish soap, since leftover seed and hulls harbor pathogens ¹.

More attraction guides

Attract birds to your yard →Attract birds to a feeder →Attract birds to a new feeder →Attract birds without a feeder →Bird calls to attract birds →Attract birds to your hand →Attract birds in winter →Balcony birding →Attract birds to a birdhouse →Birds that eat yard pests →How to attract american goldfinches →How to attract northern cardinals →How to attract black-capped chickadees →How to attract ruby-throated hummingbirds →How to attract baltimore orioles →How to attract bluebirds →All guides →

Frequently asked questions

Why won't birds use my bird bath?

Usually depth, stillness or exposure: keep it shallow with stones to stand on, add a dripper, and place it near cover birds can retreat to ¹.

How often should I change bird bath water?

Every day to keep it fresh, and scrub the bath weekly or whenever it is cloudy, moldy or fouled ¹.