Would you like a bath? Your feathered friends can refresh themselves in dry summers in this homemade bird bath.
This works best when drinking and eating. You can easily build your own birdbath or feeding plate from a flat clay bowl, string and beads.
1. Idea 1: Bird bath
Eating, drinking, bathing, cleaning: just like us humans, birds have to drink and eat. In dry summers, a bird bath is therefore a popular place, as natural water points are rare.
You need this:
- Clay coasters, approx. 18 cm in diameter
- 4.50 m rope made of natural fiber or plastic
- Waterproof pen
- scissors, tape measure
- Colorful beads
- Metal ring, S hook
- stone, thin branch
- Residual wood as a drilling base
- masking tape
- Cordless drill with 3 mm masonry or diamond drill
drill holes
First, mark three drill holes by eye on the outer edge of the saucer. Then place the plate on a squared timber and hold it while drilling. Stick a piece of masking tape to the marked spot beforehand so that the drill doesn’t slip away when you start it. Drill slowly, without percussion and without pressure.
Tip: so that there is less dust, moisten the clay coaster beforehand. If the drill gets too hot, cool it down with some water.
manufacture the suspension
Now cut the cord into three pieces of equal length (1.50 m). Then double the cords and pull them through the metal ring to create a loop. So you can easily hang up and take down the potions with the help of the ring and an S hook.
Decorate strings
If you like, you can decorate the bird bath with pearls. Since you doubled the cords for the suspension, you now have six cords available. Take two at a time, thread on beads of different heights and tie a double knot underneath to secure the beads. When decorating directly on the plate, thread smaller beads onto a pair of cords, push them through the drilled hole from the inside, thread on more beads and knot the cord at the end. Make sure all the cords are the same length and the knot is tight. Now just hang it up, put a stone and a twig in it, fill it with water and wait for the bathers.
location and care
Choose a safe place for the bird bath – an open, uncluttered spot that gives birds a good view of their surroundings is good. It is best to hang up the watering hole or choose an elevated place so that cats or other enemies cannot reach it. To avoid germs that make the birds sick, the water should be changed daily on hot days and once a week in normal weather, and the drinking troughs should be cleaned with hot water and a brush. Place a rock and a thin twig in the bowl to make it easier for birds and insects to get out of the waterer.
2. Idea 2: feeding station
Of course, you can also build a feeding station using the same principle. This is where we drilled the holes in the bottom as the material is thinner there than on the sides. Since the station has no roof, it should only be hung on the balcony or a rain-protected place. Otherwise the feed will become wet and inedible.
