{"id":3267,"date":"2014-11-17T21:12:27","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T21:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=3267"},"modified":"2020-12-01T20:18:56","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T20:18:56","slug":"wild-birds-winter-water","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/resources\/wild-birds-winter-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Birds, Winter and Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Birds Need Water in Winter<\/h2>\n<p>We can&#8217;t say enough about how important water is to the survival of our wild birds year round, but winter is especially challenging for them. So please keep a <strong>dependable and available water source<\/strong> in your backyard bird habitat year round.<\/p>\n<p>Water in winter? Brrr! Yes, wild birds need our bird baths in winter! Maybe even <em>more<\/em> than they do in <em>summer<\/em>. In fact, it&#8217;s <em>critical<\/em> for their survival during cold weather.<br \/>\n<strong>Here\u2019s why:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Birds drink water. <\/strong>Their <strong>usual water sources are tougher to access<\/strong> under ice and snow. (Info about how to keep your bird bath ice-free is below.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bathing is essential<\/strong> to their good health. Bathing aids in preening which aligns feathers for optimum insulation and\u2026oddly enough\u2026waterproofing!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, please <strong>don&#8217;t stop maintaining your bird bath during winter<\/strong>. Get your bird bath ready for cold weather. We can help!<\/p>\n<h3>Winterize your bird bath!<\/h3>\n<h4>The Backyard Naturalist&#8217;s guide for winter wild bird hosts:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Already have a bird bath? Add a de-icer.<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heated-Rock-Deicer-FIHR75.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-3276\" src=\"http:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/Heated-Rock-Deicer-FIHR75-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Heated Rock Deicer to keep the water in your backyard bird bath from freezing over in winter.\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> If your bird bath is made of concrete or ceramic, our area&#8217;s winter weather patterns of &#8216;freeze and thaw&#8217; can cause cracks that will destroy it over time. So, to prevent cracking, <strong>place a de-icer<\/strong> in your bird bath top or you will need to put it away for the winter.Substitute with a <a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/portfolio-items\/bird-bath-heaters-deicers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bird bath made of <strong>sturdy plastic, granite or metal<\/strong><\/a>. Unless the bath is heated, you will still need a de-icer to keep water unfrozen and accessible to the birds. We recommend the <strong><a title=\"Bird Bath Heaters &amp; Deicers\" href=\"http:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/portfolio-items\/bird-bath-heaters-deicers\/\">&#8216;Heated Rock De-Icer&#8217;<\/a><\/strong>. It has a thermostat and activates when temperatures drop.\n<p>Or, choose a <a title=\"Bird Bath Heaters &amp; Deicers\" href=\"http:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/portfolio-items\/bird-bath-heaters-deicers\/\">bird bath with electric heater built in<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>To keep your bird bath clear of ice and snow, <\/strong>we recommend you add an electric de-icer to help 24\/7 during freezing temperatures. (They are easy to use and economical to operate! Ask us!) We&#8217;re not talking jacuzzi here!!! Just keeps the water from freezing solid!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Keep the water accessible consistently!!!\u00a0<\/strong> Not only will your regular feeder visitors appreciate it, once established you will likely lure in non-seed eaters, too. Those of you lucky enough to have Bluebirds visit know what we&#8217;re talking about&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Locate bird baths away from places where predators are lurking.<\/strong> Free-roaming cats are deadly for wild birds.<a title=\"Wild Birds &amp; Cats\" href=\"https:\/\/abcbirds.org\/program\/cats-indoors\/\"> (Please, keep your cats indoors!)<\/a> When you&#8217;re in the store, ask us for the pamphlet on this topic from <strong><em>The American Bird Conservancy<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Refill with fresh water<\/strong> daily and as needed. Keep an eye on the water level. Some birds are seriously active splashers! But, only 2-3 inches deep max! If your bowl is deeper, add some rocks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>NEVER add chemicals of any kind.<\/strong> They can be fatal, even in small doses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clean your bird bath<\/strong> by scrubbing with baking soda, lemon juice or white vinegar. Rinse really well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There&#8217;s no better way to brighten up a dreary winter day when you&#8217;re stuck inside! Watching birds congregate and appreciate your bird bath will bring hours of joy. Don&#8217;t miss out on the opportunity for some great <strong>winter birdwatching while supporting your backyard birds<\/strong>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wild birds need water all year round for drinking and bathing \u2014 especially in winter. Is your bird bath ready for winter weather?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3273,"parent":15,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-resource.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3267","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3267"}],"version-history":[{"count":55,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9469,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3267\/revisions\/9469"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}