If Your Birdbath Isn't Attracting Visitors, You're Probably Breaking This Unspoken Rule

You've done everything right to wake up to that morning birdsong — bought a new ornamental basin for birds and not your average birdbath, either, but some fancy, shmancy Amazon find that's supposed to bring the birds flocking to your yard. You even picked a good spot, maybe even made yours a solar lighted birdbath that can also beautifully display flowers. And yet, your basin sits untouched while the pretty avians seem to be frolicking around your neighbors' birdbaths. Don't worry, it's not the birdbath or your garden keeping them away; it's likely you have broken an unspoken rule: Placing the birdbath too close to your bird feeders.

It might seem intuitive to keep them together, because you feel like a one-stop setup should make your garden more appealing to pretty birdies, not less. But a few small adjustments to how far apart you place them, and how you maintain each one, can mean the difference between an ignored basin and a birdbath that does a lot more than attract birds.

It's that simple: If you have both birdbaths and feeders, make sure they're at least 5 to 10 feet away from each other. Just like we don't prefer to eat and bathe in the same place, the same goes for birds. If placed too close, the debris, seeds, seed hulls, and bird droppings from the bird feeder can contaminate the water in the birdbath, which will keep them away and your yard bereft of flying avians. The contamination can even transmit diseases. Plus, placing the birdbath close to trees, garden hedges, or any other bush in your garden brings the same contamination risk as feeders — debris falls right in. There's a tradeoff here, though: the birdbath still needs to sit close enough to greenery for a quick escape from cats and other predators. The sweet spot therefore is keeping it 10 to 15 feet away from trees so it stays shielded from surprise attacks, but doesn't get dirty, either.

Even with the right placement, a birdbath would eventually get dirty. Change the water every few days, especially if rain isn't doing the job for you, and clean it every day using a plastic scrubber to keep it fresh day to day. When it gets dirtier than that, give it a deeper clean. All you need is boiling water and a heavy-duty brush to scrub the basin and eliminate debris, algae, and other buildup.