Birdfeeders

During the hot weather, watch for many different birds visiting your birdbaths trying to get a drink and splash around in the refreshing water. Be sure to check water levels often, for a few birds the size of jays and robins splashing in the birdbath can empty out much of the water. The most common visitors to our backyard birdbaths are the resident songbirds such as robins, orioles, catbirds and tanagers. Gold finches and house finches spend lots of time visiting birdbaths. Be sure to also add a shallow birdbath or even dish of water near the ground for birds like towhees and thrushes. It’s quite exciting to see family groups visit the birdbaths as the fledglings begin to leave their nearby nests. As the young birds visit for the first few times, they just line up along the rim as if waiting their turn. If summer brings an extended dry period, you may see even more species visit your birdbaths as water becomes more difficult to find. Keeping the bird feeders filled will further attract these visitors even though natural food is plentiful.