Updated at: 18-06-2023 - By: Jane Brody

There’s no justification for depriving the birds in your garden of a constant supply of water at any time of the year.

If you want to ensure the survival of common backyard birds, it’s important to provide them with a water source. It may occur all year in warm states or throughout the spring and summer months elsewhere in the United States. The freezing of their water source in the winter is a major problem, thus it’s important to provide a reliable source of drinking water.

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If you live in a state where it gets hot during the summer, and you want to help the local wild birds out by giving them water, look into local Audubon resources.

Since birds in other parts of the United States need to drink more often to stay alive, providing them with access to water in your backyard should be high on your list of priorities.

Water supplies in the form of hanging, mounted, or dish bird baths can be placed in locations that cater to more timid, or more shy, birds in your yard, but a bird bath centerpiece is an option.

Because of the drought, food and water supplies are dwindling, therefore it is important to provide both now.

Puddles, ponds, and other places to drink and, in many cases, bathe, simply become inaccessible overnight as temperatures plummet over the winter, trapping in insects and natural resources.

Remember that the delicate birds in your garden couldn’t make it without our help, and that you can increase their chances of survival by providing water every day of the year.

Should put out in sunny States

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Providing fresh water for the native birds of the United States should be a top priority for anyone living in the sunny states.

To help the birds in your yard stay hydrated during the hot weather, you should put out a water dish in a secure area of your yard.

Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, Kansas, and the backyard birds of Oklahoma, among other sunny states, have a difficult environment for fragile birds due to their long, hot days, yet backyard water sources aid increase their chances of survival.

Sure, backyard birds can handle the heat and humidity, but they need access to water frequently throughout the day.

It is especially important to provide water during the dry seasons, but keeping water out all year will help a greater number of birds survive.

If you want to attract tropical birds to your backyard, you should probably put out more water than you would for the more common backyard birds.

Drought in summertime

Drought is widespread in states that experience severe temperatures in May and June, with the exception of northern States that typically have a good and regular summer.

These can also be found in the sunny states of Oklahoma, but in the south, where temperatures can reach as high as 81.3 degrees Fahrenheit, bird survival rates plummet.

The state of Texas, home to many songbirds, is the most at risk because it records the highest temperatures.

Extreme heat might kill birds in your neighborhood, but drought, forest fires, and destruction of their natural habitat are the real killers.

Putting out water for birds is a good idea in the spring and summer months regardless of whether or not your state is experiencing a drought.

You shouldn’t just put out water for the birds in your backyard during the warmer months; they’ll appreciate it year-round.

Offer water in cold weather

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When the weather gets better, you may expect to hear birdsong in your backyard from morning till night.

Even if there is no shortage of precipitation in the winter, wild birds’ natural water resources often freeze over, making it imperative that you provide food by hanging up bird feeders.

To keep birds from freezing to death in your garden during the winter, you’ll need to regularly disrupt the water in their bird bath.

What this means is that you should prevent a film of frozen water from forming over the water source so that the birds may continue to drink from it.

There are no chemicals that can be put into a bird bath to keep it from freezing over, but a little plastic ball that floats on the water’s top can keep it from freezing over. This is not a permanent solution, however, and you will still need to work to keep the water from freezing over.

In order to facilitate this, you should install a bird bath with a smaller water basin than you would find in a pond or other large water source.

Double or triple resources

Your first instinct might be to use a bird bath to provide water for the birds in your backyard, and you’d be right about that… under certain circumstances.

Keep the bird bath out in the open where it can be seen at all times; birds and other wildlife won’t use it till the weather changes and they need to drink more frequently.

In addition, you might need to purchase an extra bird bath or two (for a total of three) if you want the birds to utilize it.

Not having these bird baths in close proximity to one another, or using the same water source, is of little use.

Therefore, I would suggest using a bird bath on a stand if you so like — positioned in the middle of the yard for visibility — all while catering to more reticent wild birds that would happily drink, or bathe, out of a bowl situated on a high point close or in foliage.

You should always provide water for the birds in your yard, but if you do it only for fun, you might want to consider purchasing more bird baths or bowls.

Monitor water condition

Remember that even if your efforts may go unnoticed, the birds will benefit from you providing them with water.

Please don’t let the prospect of a little extra work deter you from providing clean water for the birds if you’re still on the fence about doing so.

It may seem like a waste of time and energy to put out water for birds in a bird bath or a handmade bowl, but if you’re patient, you’ll see results.

Refilling a bird bath is necessary if the water level drops due to severe winds or because the bird bath is otherwise unsteady

Despite how challenging it can be to attract birds to a bird bath, offering water throughout the clock without it drying up can only improve the likelihood of birds returning.

The water level will drop rapidly throughout the summer, and even more so during drought, so make sure to replenish it at least twice a day.

It’s important to keep an eye on the bird bath or other water source when summer ends to make sure it doesn’t freeze over and need breaking the ice.

If you want to attract birds to your backyard, it’s worth the time and effort to provide them with water.

Attracting birds to your yard so you can watch and appreciate them is a nice perk, but providing them with food is just as crucial.

To summarize

Providing a water source is just as important as providing food in feeders if you live in a sunny state.

Because of the high heat in the summer, birds need to drink water and refuel on suet at the feeders.

Backyard birds can be severely impacted by the onset of drought in any part of the United States; however, providing a consistent water source might increase their chances of survival.

The winter season also poses challenges for birds, such as the consistent freezing of all natural water sources.

If you don’t have a bird bath, a saucer or a shallow dish will do, as long as the water won’t evaporate too rapidly.

Regardless, if you want to provide water for birds in your backyard, you’ll need to make sure the dish is always full.

Keep an eye on the water quality and give it a good scrub every few days; during extremely hot spells, you may want to do this more frequently.

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