Turn A Travel Cup Into A Refreshing Bath For Hummingbirds

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Hummingbirds are a gorgeous sight to behold. If you want to see more of them in your garden, adding a water feature they love is a surefire way to attract hummingbirds to your yard without a feeder. Surprisingly, a travel cup with a straw has the potential to be transformed into an adorable fountain birdbath for hummingbirds. A YouTube video shared by Robbie and Gary Gardening Easy shows a magnificent DIY that uses a solar fountain kit and a travel cup to craft a bubbling birdbath. In the video, hummingbirds and some other feathered friends flock to the bath for a quick rinse, showing the success of this upcycled travel cup idea.

You may have noticed that these birds don't hang around your typical still birdbath. Hummingbirds are smaller than many other feathered friends, and prefer shallow baths with moving water. The lid of the cup will collect a little water as it flows down your fountain and makes a wonderful, shallow pool for hummingbirds to enjoy.

While baths with flowing water are sometimes rather expensive, this is a wonderful budget-friendly alternative. You might repurpose a tumbler and straw taking up space in your cabinet to create a bath birds will love out of an unexpected kitchen item. Alternatively, thrift a tumbler or pick one up from Dollar Tree to keep this DIY cost-effective. Plus, on Amazon, the AISITIN DIY Solar Water Pump Kit is about $10 and is designed for building your own fountain birdbath.

Besides the travel cup and fountain kit, the YouTuber used a large bowl to act as the base of the fountain, as well as a soldering iron. They also implemented a small bowl to make the travel cup sit higher in the birdbath and a little tray to decorate and hide the pump wire.

First, make a hole in the bottom of your plastic tumbler with a soldering iron. This allows the straw to extend through the cup and connect to the fountain pump. The video creator also made a hole in the bottom of the small bowl, connecting it upside-down to the bottom of the cup. Next, simply attach the nozzle of the pump to the end of the straw. If using a small bowl as the base, make a little indent in the rim for the fountain's wire. Finally, set your tumbler and pump inside the larger bowl to complete your adorable DIY birdbath.

To decorate, the YouTuber attached a plastic tray that matched the tumbler onto the large bowl, creating a background for the fountain. The pump wire was also slipped behind it to better conceal it. Alternatively, another video from the same creator suggests setting your bath inside a hanging wire basket. When you're happy with your bath, fill the larger bowl with water and turn on your pump to allow water to flow out of the top of the straw. Sit back and get ready to see some hummingbirds.