I know feeding stations with fruit and seed are frowned upon because it tends to help with the spread of diseases and it's often people feeding the birds incorrect food but what is the go with leaving them water?
In summer, especially in those 40 degree days, I tend to fill several large dishes with water for the magpies and wattlebirds and put them in the garden. Is this just as detrimental to the birds as feeding stations? I've found the magpies were generally desperate enough to get in my dog's water bowl so I provided them with their own dishes so as they weren't competing with a grumpy old greyhound.
Bibby, while most frown on feeding, many here have, and advocate the use of bird baths. It is Important to remember to change the water and clean regularly, daily if possible, to reduce the chances of spreading disease. If possible place in shaded area so as to give shelter and reduce water overheating in summer. They also provide good photo opportunities. Good luck.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
So far I haven't seen a substitute for providing birds with the native vegetation on which they would naturally feed. These plants & the birds that depend on them have evolved together over millennia, unlike seagulls & left over sandwiches.
I live in a gully where dams & other human interferences have destroyed the water holes that would once have existed. So I don't have any problem with providing water for birds. I'm not too fussy about clean water because natural water holes suffer from some fouling by birds, other animals & plant litter. But because water holes are flushed out by heavy rain I clean the bird baths & saucers when they become rather dirty.
We live in an over 50s complex which has wonderful communal gardens that attract a variety of birds. There a couple of artificial lakes and a watercourse. Our yard is a reasonable size under the circumstances and we are planting natives to encourage birds to visit our garden. We would like to include a bird bath and have been doing some research for a free standing bath in the rear garden. During our research we came across this bath designed to be suspended. As we have no large trees in our own garden, we were wondering if this would be suitable to hang from the eaves of our balcony deck. Specifically, is this a suitable design for a suspended bird bath?
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I'm not sure what metal that swinging bird bath is made from, Swisslulu, but I'm a little worried it might be something that would gradually dissolve in water & thereby be ingested by birds. Could I suggest a stone bird bath is more akin to what they would drink from naturally & therefore not interfere with their well-being?
I suggest that the weight of water in that bath would exceed the weight recommended to hang from your eaves.
The usual process in retirement villages is that you need approval to add that sort of thing to your building (assuming that it is the usual RV 99 year lease arrangement. If I was the village manager you would not get my approval and I would recommend that you buy a freestanding bath.
Peter
Woko, it is a very lightweight metal but, as you say, the coating may be problematic. I might go back and have a closer look at the tag to see what it says about the metal/coating. We always intended to have a freestanding pedestal birdbath down in the garden but thought it would be nice to have something we could see from inside the house as well.
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Pacman (Peter), It is a very lightweight metal construction and quite shallow, though that might not be obvious from the angle of the photo, so even with water I would doubt it would weigh any more than a large hanging basket complete with soil and plants. We own our home and are responsible for its maintenance so we certainly don't need approval for something like this - a permanent fixture such as a pergola would be a different matter though.
As I said in my response to Woko, we always intended to get a freestanding bird bath for the garden. My question was really about the design with regard to birds perching though Woko's comment about the degradation of the metal/coating has me investigating further. Thanks for your reply.
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If you're looking for something placed so that it can be viewed from your house then perhaps a small stoneware dish or two might be helpful.
Swisslulu, at school we made peanut bowls from perspect. We'd pop a cut out piece of a desired size into the oven and warm it up, then drop it over a jig and lightly push down bending the plastinc as we go.
Thinking a sheet of 5mm perspect, perhaps from a demo yard. If the oven isn't big enough, maybe evenly spaced head beads under a suspended sheet of perspect on bricks. Then use the upturned metal dish as a template, and push down. Trim the edges and shape with a grinder.
Maybe 3mm perspect would do and reinforce the mountig corners by glueing a second layer on the fixing point.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
PS, I don't think the weight of it would hamper the eave AS LONG as you mount and screw the hook into the truss suspending the eave. Don't do that and it will end up a broken mess on the ground. Getting permission is probably the hardest bit of it all.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
Food for thought thanks Woko.
Jason, Interesting concept though I'm not sure my DIY skills are up to it. I seem to remember something like this with chip packets back in the 80s.
The jury is still out on bird baths so will keep researching.
Thanks for the input.
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