Most North American backyard birds rely on water sources for both drinking and bathing. Water is only one element of a healthy, safe wildlife habitat, but it’s one of the most important.
Fortunately, it’s also something many of us can fairly easily provide.
If you happen to have an emu on your property, you’ll need to provide at least 9-18 liters (2.5 to 5 gallons) of water each day.
But more likely, you’ll have mostly sparrows, finches and songbirds visit your garden and, on average, birds that size require approximately 5%-10% of their body weight, so only about 15 ml (0.5 oz) of water. Birds often drink twice a day to keep hydrated and in hot, dry spells without safe access to water, dehydration is always a risk.
Providing birds with clean, fresh water in as many sizes as possible is the least we can do to help our feathered friends who face so many daily and seasonal struggles.
Bathing is also an important activity for bird’s health, with benefits that include:
– ensuring healthy feathers by removing excess oils (used for waterproofing) as well as preventing matting and damage
– controlling parasites that naturally occur in birds’ daily lives
– cooling birds during heat waves and hot spells
Be mindful of how and where you place each water source: in a shady area near tree cover is ideal and elevated sufficiently to make it safe from predators.
Want to do more?
The Canadian Wildlife Federation offers a “Wildlife Friendly Habitat” certification for gardens that meet certain criteria to support wildlife. Once their garden is certified, gardeners can also purchase a sign to display to encourage others to build their own healthy wildlife habitat.
The criteria for water source include the following options (from which you need only have one):
– Bird bath
– Shallow dish with perching stones
– Pond/recirculating stream
– Water garden
– Rain garden
– Wetland/seasonal pool
– Stream/spring/river/lake
This article is expanded from information originally presented in the Avant-Garden July 2025 newsletter. If you would like to receive the monthly newsletter, use the registration form on our home page by clicking here:
https://www.avantgardenshop.com/
Scroll down until you see the goldfinch and send us your name and email address to be included in the next monthly mailing.
Want to introduce a bird bath into your garden? Pop into the shop to see our selection or browse online by following this link. https://www.avantgardenshop.com/product-category/shop-all/for-the-birds/bird-baths/
~
Sources: Birdfact.com (https://birdfact.com/articles/do-birds-drink-water)
Birdful.org (https://www.birdful.org/are-birds-supposed-to-drink-water/)
Canadian Wildlife Foundation – “Wildlife Friendly Habitat” certification application (https://cwf-fcf.org/assets/CertificationApplicationForm_en.pdf)