A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 bird baths & ponds

A water feature that doesn't have a pump or need electricity might be an option for me, but I have some questions.

Domestic birds require that their bath water be changed everyday or it can make them sick. Are wild birds hardier or do you need to change the water in a bird bath everyday also?

And with water that is stagnate/unmoving is it likely to become a hatching ground for mosquitoes?

What kind of maintenance would be required for a water feature without a pump?

tk, all the research i have done says that if you do a 50 gallon or so "pond" it is possible to have plants to oxegenate the water and fish to eat the mosquitos and the birds will come. the only thing you have to do is provide "hiding" places for the fish so the birds (and cats) don't eat them. i'll try to find the links and post them soon.

Thankyou Jiffymouse,

50 gallons hum, you wouldn't have a cubic feet calculator for that would you?

mine is 50 gallons, let me check the dimentions on it. i want to say it is about a half whisky barrel size...

LOL

I've been sober so long I'm not sure what size that is anymore.

my first "pond", only about the size of a bathtub, my hubby bought for me for mom's day. the pump for the fountain included in the kit was a dud, and so i ended up without "moving water". it had 1 lily in it with some parrot's feather and some water lettuce, and i think 4 gold fish. after the green stage passed, and the water cleared to a nice kinda black, yet u could still see thru it, i never had a problem with mosquitoes. the fish i guess ate anything that nested in there, and then i had a couple frogs move in and a bunch of snails also moved in so i hardly even had any algae, just under the lilypads and some on the sides, but the critters kept it pretty clean, and still, i had no mosquitoes.
when we moved, we left it there,(it's only next door) and i took the fish out and gave them to my mom~in~law...only when i was catching the fish for her i found 9 babies in addition to the original 4 i had put in.
the pond is still there, along with the frogs and snails, cause i haven't had the opportunity to dig it up and move it yet (plus we want to add on to it when we do), and the lily and parrot's feather, and tho it's still early in the season, so far no mosquitoes.
i don't neccessarily recommend having still water, but it's been ok for mine.

as for the bird bath thing, i have 8 cats so i have to fill my bird baths (2 of them) every day in the winter and 3 times a day in the summer. it doesn't last long enough to stagnate, and the birds just have to wait till the kitties are napping to get their fill.

That is fantastic thank you. I love the kitty/bird coop baths.

Unless your birdbath is mostly in the shade, the water will stay too warm for mosquitos to breed in it and will likely evaporate too fast to become good breeding grounds as well.

I just received another 1/2 whiskey barrel to make another water garden with, and the liner that fits inside it says it's 25 gallons.

krazykat is right. the wiskey barral half is 25 gallons. i was thinking 50 because that is how big a full barrel is, and because my "pond" is a 3 tier and says it holds a total of 50 gals. sorry, and if i'd have thought... how many times do we talk about 55 gal drums...

I have a little pond in my palm garden. Sometimes forget to top it up and it's OK. It is a half bath, the size of a shower cubicle about 18" deep. It's full of plants and they oxygenate the water. A half dozen native mozzie eating fish went in about 3 years ago. The birds use it.
Here's a bit of a photo though it doesn't show the water at all. Basically, all those plants immediately behind the Buddha and the black pot are in the water. I forget it's even there sometimes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/m.longstaff/buddhas_pond.jpg

I am a bird photographer and watcher and just installed a 150 lb. (75 kg.) concrete birdbath on my deck to attract more birds three weeks ago. I have not seen a single bird using the birdbath since then but today I observed American Robins bathing and drinking from a mud puddle not 10 feet away. I guess Mother nature has the best solutions.

Today was the grand opening of my birdbath! I watched a House Sparrow and a European Starling drinking from my bird bath! Finally I feel like I didn't waste my time.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2129198704

Image station wouldn't let me in because I'm not a member whaaaaaaaaa. I would have loved to see your birds and birdbath. Down in BanterHall there is a string called "car thieves". There is a picture of a bird could you identify it and maybe give us some idea why it would do what it was doing? I've very curious.

Wow Thornius....those are some amazing shots.
Iron Hawk. ...sense of humor there eh!

How on earth did you get the water thrush and other birds in your hands???

Catlover

Those aren't my hands. I help bird banders capture birds alive in invisible nets, get all the pertinent information about the bird, and register them by putting an aluminum band with a serial number and address around their legs in case they are ever caught again or found dead. We then turn the birds loose to go on with the rest of their lives......AFTER everyone gets all the pictures they want of that bird. The hands belong to Master Bander, Sandy Bivens, at the Warner Park Nature Center in Nashville, TN, one of my mentors and trainers.

tk, it is free to join Sony Image Station. Then you can look at the hundreds of albums that they have in there! Just register as a new member and you're in! Alsoo here is the in formation on the bird In "Car Thieves":
The bird in question in "Car Thieves" is a European Starling. Originally not native to the New World, it was imported to Central Park, in New York City, the 1890's along with House (or English) Sparrows and the Rock Pigeons that are so prevalent in our cities today. They were imported by an eccentric American Tycoon millionaire, who had a passion for European birds. Birdwatchers have been cursing this man ever since, because by importing these species,(which have no natural enemies in the New World), he led to the near extermination of some native New World bird species, especially the Eastern bluebird. These three species are unprotected by U.S. law and can be eliminated by ANY means necessary with no legal penalties or limits, as long as it does no environmental damage. That said, these three species are quite fun to watch as to their antics and behavioral patterns. In addition the Rock Pigeon has been a major factor in the comeback of the Peregrine Falcon in the New World, as they are the primary source of food for the falcons. I have personally witnessed a Perigrine catch a pigeon in mid-air in an explosion of feathers.
I have pictures of European Starlings and House Sparrows both in my Image Station album.