I think birds will make use of anything. In the question asked
they would need to be able to see it, and that might take a while. I am
thinking that the floor might be too smooth for birds to feel safe standing in
it. It might work. One old story. In the 1970s when a move in residence had me
relocate my finches from one aviary into flight cages for nearly 3 years before
having another aviary, I had my finches in 4 flight cages stacked one above the
other. At that time pet shops would sell a bird bath that clipped onto the
front wires of the cage door. As in lift the door and the bath clipped onto the
cage front, on the door, outside the cage. So the birds would go outside the
cage into a fully see through 5 sided box. They learned this very quickly, even
though going into it might have looked like they were stepping into space. They
clearly accepted it and more to the point I only had one and so would give it
to each cage in succession. The birds could all hear and some see the others
bathing and as one started, those in the next cages would start trying to bathe
in the little water that was available just from the drinking spout. They did
not do that at other times. Also being fully enclosed, apart from the entry, it
made cleaning easier than putting an open bowl in the cage. For what it is
worth I have not kept birds since 1977.
Philip
From: Birding-Aus
[ On Behalf Of Chris King
Sent: Monday, 6 January, 2020 7:26 PM
To:
Cc: birding-aus
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Bird baths.
Does anyone have experience with using clear plastic take
away containers for bird baths? I put some around a light rail station near me
where there's Superb fairy-wrens surviving in spite of recent high rise
developments on their former habitat. I put stones in each for them to perch on
but it was a bit tricky to get something out of the range of dogs. Not sure if
they will like the clear plastic.
On Sat, 4 Jan 2020 at 18:28, Anthea Fleming <>
wrote:
We have a number of well-used bird-baths, mostly terra
cotta. Each has a couple of smallish rough rocks, or a stick, to make
sure birds and other fauna can climb out. Occasionally other people
re-fill the baths and take out the 'untidy' rocks or stick, so they have to be
replaced. Presence of nearby vegetation is very important, so birds can
check surroundings before diving in.
On 4/01/2020 3:57 pm, Martin Butterfield wrote:
We had a red
ceramic one and it was very popular. I'd suggest new is the problem.
A friend was persuaded by his wife to replace their old
concrete bird bath so he went to Bunnings and bought
a red ceramic one but the birds won't go anywhere near it.
Would it be the colour, that it is ceramic (slippery) or just that it is new?
David Robertson
Adelaide
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