Besides my 4 birdbaths, I turn the hose on in a fine spray each late afternoon. I have cardinals, bluejays, robins, an assortment of small birds, and 9 crows all taking turns to dance in the spray.

The crows are so funny. They run through the spray holding their wings extended. I like to think that they are laughing.

Awwwwww! I'd love to see your laughing crows. I have magpies in my yard talking to me from the fence outside my office window. They seem to like my company but of course I feed them too. Crows, magpies and bluejays are all corvidaes and are very smart. I love to watch their antics cause they will literally show off for an audience! I have 3 bird bathes of sorts in my yard and all of them are used regularly. I have a lot of squirrels too so they drink from them too. This year I have had a visiting Northern Ficker who was a regular visitor in the winter to my feeding station.
I guess she likes it here. I have bluejays, robins, maggies, crows, chickadees, wrens, finches, and every kind of sparrow come to visit all summer. I even had a Kestrel sitting on the fence in the spring!!

I need a video of those laughing, frolicking crows in the sprinkler. That would be a big UTube smash I bet. ha.

I have a birdbath but am not vigilant in keeping it filled with water. Also the water stagnates pretty quickly, not sure if that's because it's in bright sun or not? You would think the opposite. Robins and starlings are forever dropping their "lunch" or "grocery shopping" in the water, i.e. bits of worms,ect. when they stop for a drink or bath. I think I'll go fill it up after while.

Do you sit one near your bird feeders?

My birdbath, surrounded by dianthus this year.

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I spoil "my" birds so much. I even put a heated water dish out for them in the winter. I do have a heavy terra cotta glazed dish on a stool beside the feeders. They like that one a lot. I have often observed the magpies feeding the dogs over the fence where their feeders sit. In the winter I feed them cat food and anything else they will eat. I think the maggies think the dogs are their odd looking relatives. I have black and white shelties. And the dogs just accept the birds. They are often just walking around together in the yard. The dogs will chase them if they have nothing better to do but it is just a game. If the birds didn't fly, the dogs would run the other way!

-honalee, how cute! I would love to see your magpies feeding the dogs, lol.

I have one birdbath. It is simply a plastic dish (actually one of the drip tray things from the bottom of a large plastic pot) on top of an old stump. It sits under the overhang of the neighbors blue spruce and near other trees, which the birds seem to like. Guess they feel more protected there than out in the open.
CMK

This concrete one is frequently used by dark eyed juncos & sparrows. I see different ages of them using it, but no larger birds. It's shallow, rough, & easy to keep clean by scrubbing with some trimmed plant material or a scrub brush. I don't sanitize it or anything. It's visible from our office & kitchen windows, so it's easy to "catch" the birds using it.

I've yet to see birds use this white plastic one. I've had it in 2 places, so it's more of an ornamental accent than purposeful for birds. It gets green & slimy, so I scrub with a brush & rinse out before refilling about every week or so depending on rainfall.

Green plastic birdbath on the far left by the hose reel, so you can barely see it. I had it in the bed off the center, but as the plants grew had to move it out. $2 garage sale purchase, but no birds use it. I dip my fingers in the warm water now & then after deadheading something when I was just going out to take a look ... We took down 2 diseased sweet cherry trees over winter next to the driveway here, so lots more sunshine and the bird bath was to help balance the bed with so many young plants.

3 nights ago when it was still really hot, something big must have tried to climb into the bird bath. The next morning I found the top broken into 3 pieces on the ground. It had landed on a piece of slate. I think it would have been okay if it hadn't hit that :( Now I temporarily have the drip pan from a terra cotta pot sitting on the pedestal until I can get a replacement. At least the base didn't get broken cause that's the interesting part of the bird bath!!

Not the greatest pictures since they were taken through the window, screen and all but you can see the dogs patiently waiting for their feather dusters to feed them.

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Painter and his bird

Northern Flicker at the dish

Can't see the birds very good but there are two up on the dish

I have three of them, but this one is the most used. I see cardinals, brown thrashers, Mockingbirds and goldfinches on it.

The butterfly bench has just been "planted" this week..
kay

There are 4 in my garden - I love to watch birds drink, bath and play in the water.

I have two heavily used birdbaths under my crabapple tree. Finches, junkos, chickadees, cardinals & all the usual suspects come in to the birdfeeders and visit the birdbaths. Robins love to bathe in them and the squirrels frequently hop from the trunk of the tree onto the nearest one for a drink. I also have a large pet dish filled with water on the ground after seeing a red fox standing on his tippy toes last year trying to raise his chin high enough to drink from the birdbath.

These were through the window + screen but it was hilarious to watch:
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I have two birdbaths but the birds really prefer the one under our crabapple tree. We had a stray cat (we call them foreclosure cats) that we took in. Her name was Loretta. She would sleep on the birdbath, not quite touching the water-just curved around it. Why didnt I get a picture of that? Love birdbaths...

I've heard that birds really like the sound of running or even dripping water and enjoy bathing there. I've always wanted to buy one of those "drippers" you can connect to you existing bird baths.

Do you think birds prefer baths under trees or near shrubs other than out in the open? I always read otherwise, but I can remember when I had just the bowl of a birdbath on a rock near the ground in the sunken garden, and birds visited it alot. Well, I have two cats now so I suppose the birds would be too hesitant.

Cute story about Loretta!

schoolhouse: I heard that about dripping water too. Years ago I took a plastic milk jug, poked a few little holes in the bottom and hung it on a branch above the birdbath. Then I filled it and let the water drip into the bath. Can't remember if that attracted more birds or not!!! I just know that when it was really hot here last week, the birds were loving the water, splashing and having a grand ole time.

gardenweed - Thank you for posting your birdbath pic as that gives me hope for my identical white plastic birdbath... If I find another location for it & the birds might actually use it.

We did have it under a cherry tree within the garden bed, but we removed the diseased tree this past winter, so I moved it.

Corrine ~ I have the same white plastic BB in my yard. I put rocks in it the first year to keep it from taking off. That sorta worked until the gophers knocked it off. This year I put a terra cotta dish in it and rocks in the dish. Works like a charm. The birds use it all the time! And other assorted critters. :)

I've also found that birds can be choosey in which type of bath they prefer. My cheap yard sale plastic birdbath is the one they prefer in my yard. DH put it on a 6' pole when the outside stray would sit beside it and catch a bird every day. He's now an indoor cat and the birds are safe from other predators with the bath elevated. We have many different birds but I don't know many of them. Some are sparrows and finches. The largest birds I've seen bathing are robins and they really dirty the water so I have to change it if I see them. This year it's rained so much I haven't changed the water as much. I also have a few much more decorative glass totem birdbaths but the birds won't use them.

Elevated birdbath on far right...

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Glass totem birdbath which the birds don't use - I've even sometimes added pebbles to the bottom but they still wouldn't use it...

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corrine1 - that white plastic birdbath was almost 15 years old when it cracked last winter. It was my mother's and had survived all those years outside year in/year out. I replaced it with two new plastic ones--an ivory colored one as well as a dark-colored one that looks metallic, sort of like antique brass. The dark one is standing right where the old white one had been for donkey's years. The birds/squirrels/chipmunks/bees like it just fine. The other one is about 12 ft. away in a flowerbed and they like that one just fine too.

Luckygal, that glass bath is gorgeous! How do you clean the one on a pole?

We have a few. The concrete one is a pain to clean, so it's rarely sparkling. This was taken in January.

The copper baths are easiest to clean and the birds use both of them.

Thanks everyone for your "bath" experiences. It does seem that different birds like baths in different locations.

That glass pedestal bath is stunning. I wonder if it's too bright for the birds to be comfortable with. Clear sides might not register as a bit of water to sip/splash in but rather a large body of water. Just a thought.

Natal - Where did you get the copper birdbaths? I like!

Thank you Natal. To clean the plastic one on the pole I mostly just blast it out with the hose from the patio which is above it altho the top does lift off to scrub more thoroughly.

Thanks Rosesstink, I agree that the birds may not be comfortable with the glass altho I've put pebbles in it also. I don't mind as the glass one is more difficult to keep crystal clear with our hard water.

Doesn't it also have something to do with the depth of the water?

Great pictures everyone!

We have six bird baths and all are situated near trees or shrubs to allow for a safe get away when needed. I change the water every day when I am off in the summer (takes forever), but every other day or so when school is in session. We have just about everything you can imagine:robins, cardinals, juncos, titmice, chickadees, blue jays, catbirds, mockingbirds, sparrows, finches (including those beautiful-at-this-time-of-year goldfinches), mourning doves, etc. Have never seen the flickers or woodpeckers in the baths, but I would imagine they must enjoy them. I have one ceramic dish on the ground among the flowers and the rest are concrete (two tall, one about 24-28" high and the others are low). I also have a ceramic dish out near the sidewalk for neighbors' dogs when they are walking-haven't seen the birds there.

I agree the concrete ones are hard to keep clean. I had copper wire in the two big ones which helped, but it disappeared and I haven't replaced it-the copper will inhibit the growth of algae. Once or twice a season, I will clean them with bleach, but you have to really be sure to rinse it thoroughly and not leave it for unsuspecting birds. I haven't ever used metal because I always thought it would heat up too much. Guess that isn't a problem, though.

I love watching the birds splash. I also try to run the sprinkler for them as often as possible-they love that!!!

We have three birdbaths and a 300ish gallon pond (no fish just a pond and waterfall). The birds love them all. In the spring, when the pond is still COLD the starlings and grackles all come and bath with the sparrows and finches. The starlings are the funniest because they will bath until they are so wet they cannot fly. They flip and flounder and then stomp their way across the yard to dry off. It's very busy and they will sit in queue and wait their turn. We had western tanager this year as well as chickadee and flicker.

Love the pic of the dogs getting fed by mamma bird Honalee!! Thanks for showing it...
CMK

Love all these birdbaths!

I've always had a few birdbaths in the garden but rarely see birds bathing in them - they do drink from them once in a while. I'd like to get a mister for them to enjoy.

Thanks for the tips about using rocks in a terra cotta dish. I had rocks in the white one, but dumped them when cleaning it out, so the white rocks are setting on the edging instead. I'm going to try that trick. A great use for the "found" rocks the kids brought home from the beach over the years.

I'd sure love to see some birds using the white one out front visible from the living room couch - the most comfortable place except for bed!

Someone on the Garden Web had the neatest 'bird feeding station and bird bath'. It was a few years ago. The person made it herself out of a couple different sized posts with hooks for feeders. I think they free formed a concrete area around this and had a bird bath also. I would love to find that article again. There were pictures and the person may have been from Canada. I am thinking the even had the 'staturary' of the girl from 'Midnite from the Garden of good and Evil' or something like that in the background. It was really pretty.