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BIRD COLUMN FOR
July 11, 2004 By Benjamin P.
Burtt Topic:
Attracting birds with bird baths and dripping water One of the best ways to attract birds through the warmer
weather is to provide a supply of water.
Whether the birds will use a bath or not will depend on how the bath
is constructed and where it is placed. A bird bath should be a sort of shallow puddle and not a
deep pool. It should be no more than a half inch deep at the edges, and slope
gradually to the center to a maximum depth of about 2 inches. If the depth of the water at the edge is greater than
one-half inch, don't buy it. Birds must be able to wade in much as we might
at a shallow, sandy beach. To accommodate more than one bird at the same time, the
diameter should be 20 to 24 inches. Placement of the bath Whether the bath is on a pedestal or on the ground, it
should be roughly 10 to 12 feet from the shelter of nearby shrubbery. Birds are timid about venturing too far
into the open. If the bath is too close to the bushes they can be more easily
caught by a cat hidden there. So, 10 to 12 feet is about right. Need to see water The reflections from the surface of the water are more
conspicuous to the birds if the bottom of the bath is a dark color. A
disadvantage of many commercial concrete models is their nearly white color.
Tests have shown that water in a dark container is used more often. If
the bird does not see the water, it will not use it. A dark, waterproof paint (deck and floor paint) can be
applied to the concrete to make the water more conspicuous and thus increase
its ability to bring in the birds. Not all birdbaths that are available in stores are
suitable. Recently, I visited a garden center for plants and inside their
large greenhouse where plants were displayed, there were also many ornaments
and bird baths and pools. However, of the dozen baths there, all had steep
sides and sloped abruptly to the center. While birds could perch on the edge and reach down to
drink, the water was too deep for them to wade in to bathe. The baths were more of an ornament than a place where
birds could easily drink and bathe. Do be sure that the bath is shallow at the edges. If you
already have one that has steep sides, you can place some thin pieces of
slate in the water around the edge. The birds can wade in until they get to
the proper depth for their size. A few commercial baths made of concrete on a heavy stand
are quite good and now there are some made of plastic that do not require
such a substantial support. Making your own birdbath A birdbath can be made with materials you have around your
home. You can mount, a shallow, metal trash can lid on a piece of tile pipe.
A rock or other weight suspended from the handle and hanging down inside the
pipe will hold the lid in place. Once this has been painted to disguise the
materials, It looks quite nice. A bath does not need to be on a pedestal. Most birds are accustomed to finding water
in a puddle on the ground. Thus an
excellent homemade bath can be constructed from concrete by digging a shallow
hole in the ground and using the hole for a mold. Follow the specifications for the size given above. Be sure the cement is at least 1-1/2
inches thick. If you do not wish to use concrete, the hole can be lined
with a piece of thin plastic and weighted down with stones or dirt along the
edges. The water presses the plastic
against the dirt beneath it. This,
together with the wrinkles in the plastic gives a pretty good footing for the
bathers. A thin plastic is preferred
to heavy material that does not wrinkle.
The latter can be quite slippery and birds may be more timid about
venturing onto it. Motion and noise help Birds are strongly attracted by the motion and noise of
dripping water. Let water fall into
the bath at about one drop per second and you will attract flycatchers,
warblers, thrushes and many birds that otherwise will not come to a bath or
to a feeder. Plastic bucket drip device The simplest arrangement for dripping water into the bath
is illustrated here in Figure 1. This is a plastic pail with a tiny hole in it. It is
suspended about two feet above the bath or pool and water drips from a hole
punched in the side of the pail near the bottom. To make a hole of the proper size, poke a common pin into
the side of the plastic pail about one half inch above the bottom. Note: the
hole should not be put in the bottom of the pail since it will soon become
plugged by bits of dirt. If the water should drip too fast, leave the pin in the
hole with the head on the inside. If it goes too slowly, then you may want to
enlarge the hole with a very tiny nail. If it is not convenient to put the pail directly above the
bath or if you do not like the appearance of it there, put if off to the side
as shown in Figure 2.
In this case you
will need some soft, one-quarter inch tubing and hook up a siphon to bring
water over to drop from the end of the tubing into the bath. In the end of
the tubing, insert a tiny plastic valve so that you can adjust the flow to
about one drop per second. The little valve costs $3.00 and is available in any store
or hardware that sells parts for small gas engines. It is called an "in-line fuel shut off valve". It
would normally be used with gas line tubing, but soft vinyl or rubber tubing
is better for the drip device. ( the valve I found was a Sten 120-212 or a Briggs
and Stratton part No. 494768). One of the tapered ends of the valve is
inserted into the tubing. The inserted tip is called a barb fitting because
its ribbed surface keeps the tubing from slipping off. Once you get the siphon started and the water flowing,
then you can easily adjust the valve handle to get the correct drip rate.
Keep the pail covered so that dirt does not get into the water for that will
plug up the valve eventually. Buying a ready-made “dripper” If you do not wish to make a "dripper" yourself,
a ready-made one that attaches to an outside faucet is available in most
stores that sell supplies for attracting and feeding birds. These consist of
a kit with all the necessary parts partially assembled. Each of the following stores in Central New York carries
one or more models: In Auburn, the Bird House on State Route 326, 315-252-1850, In Syracuse, Lee's
Feed Store in Syracuse , Milburn Dr.
on the south side at 469-1481. In Cicero, Barone
Gardens on South Bay Rd. near Thompson Rd, at 699-2429. In Fayetteville, Wild Birds Unlimited on E. Genesee St.,
at 637-0710. At Moyers Corners about 4 miles east of Baldwinsville,
Tweeter Feeders will have some in soon.
Call 622-4737.
As shown here in Figure 3, the "dripper"
consists of a metal "Y" that you attach to the garden hose faucet
outside your house. This "Y" is normally used so that two garden
hoses can be attached to the same faucet. There is a valve in each arm so
that one or both can be turned on. Instead of attaching a garden hose to the other side, you
screw on a cap on that has a nipple to which a piece of 1/4 inch diameter
plastic tubing is attached. The other end of the miniature hose is fastened
just above the bird bath so that water will drip into the bath. The bird bath
can be placed on the ground or on a pedestal. The water can merely drip from the end of the tubing into
the bath. The tubing can be supported
by a tree branch, or from the top of a stake near the bath. Instead of suspending the end of the tubing over the
water, some units include a copper tube mounted on a small crockery pedestal
that sits in the bird bath as shown at the bottom right of Figure 3 and just
below in Figure 4 The piece of copper tubing goes up, over and down, dripping
water into the bath.
Some other drip
units clamp onto the edge of the bird bath and the water drips from the tip
of a metal tube that hangs over the bath. With this arrangement, the regular faucet on the outside
of the house is turned on. The little
valve is opened just a bit to allow water to drip from the end of the tubing
into the bird bath. The other valve
on the "Y" is turned off unless you wish to connect the garden
hose. Thus, the faucet is available for all its customary uses, but
the little valve on one arm of the "Y", controls the flow of the
dripping unit. In some kits you also have a little valve in the tubing to
adjust the flow. One drop per second is about right. Once it is dripping at the proper rate, you do not need to
readjust it unless the water pressure changes drastically. These kits with all the parts give you the best and most
convenient arrangement I have seen for attracting birds to water in summer.
The basic unit is $40 to $50. Some
models allow you to choose whether to operate it as a tiny fountain or as a
dripper. It is nice to have a ready-made device, but if you like to
make things and have access to a good hardware store, you can find these
parts and put together your own "dripper". There are also bird baths made of plastic that have a
built in dripper that can be attached to a faucet in much the same way. Solar
powered fountain. A very unique unit was invented by Chris Gates of
Chittenango a few years ago. It consists of a floating lily pad about 8 inches
in diameter on which sits a little green frog.
Below is a photograph of one operating in my back
yard. For fun it could be put in a
fish pond or even allowed to float about in a swimming pool.
It is only
available on the web or by mail. It
costs $89 and is a lot of fun. If you wish to buy one on line, go to the web site www. solar-fountain.com and follow the
directions to fill out the order blank.
If you do not have access to the web, you can order one by mail. Write to Pratique, Inc, 1325 Route 173, Chittenango, NY 13037. The
total cost will be the sum of the following: 89.00 Solar Power Fountain 7.34 Sales tax for NY residents 6.00 shipping and handling Total = $102.34 Please include your name, address, phone number and email
address if you have one.
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