Birdfeeders

Almost all birds wet their feathers on a regular basis as part of their ritual of feather maintenance. That’s why it is so important to have bird baths in our yards. The experts seem to agree that birds don’t bathe to get clean as humans do, but it is more for oiling the feathers and preening. Each type of bird seems to have it’s own characteristic way of bathing. Songbirds generally prefer to stand in shallow water which makes bird baths the perfect solution. While standing in the bird bath, they dip their heads and flip water onto their backs, then shake their bills in the water while rapidly fluttering the wings which wets the flight feathers. The tail is also immersed and fluttered. By now the bird is completely wet and water has been flying all around. At this point, a good shake gets rid of all excess water. It is great entertainment to watch. After a few of these baths, it is highly likely that the bird baths will need refilling. At this point, the bird will move to a nearby tree, shrub or railing to complete the process. This is when they go through the preening ritual which eliminates the rest of the water, arranges the feathers and spreads the preen oil over the plumage.