Water: More Important than Ever!

During this extreme heat, you can do a big favour for your birds by providing them with a reliable source of water.

Water is very important to birds. Whether they are feeder visitors or not, birds need water. Offering a dependable source of water is probably the simplest and most important step you can take to greatly increase the variety of birds in your yard.

However, as entertaining as it is for us, water (or the lack thereof) can be deadly serious for birds. Birds must be ready to fly at all times, and bathing is a critical part of feather maintenance and staying in top-flight condition. Water is also vitally important when it's extremely hot and a bird's ability to regulate its body temperature can become stressed. Birds do not sweat and must remove excess body heat through their respiratory system. So, when temperatures rise, a bird's respiration rate increases, sometimes to the point that it can be seen panting like a dog. This activity dehydrates birds and increases their need for a reliable source of water to replace lost fluids. So, while the addition of a bird bath or mister to your yard can supply hours of enjoyable bird watching entertainment for you, it may also be providing a lifesaving necessity.

Check out the great birdbaths and dripper/misters we have in store! Let us help you set up the perfect water feature in your yard.

Fun Facts About Water & Birds

Hummingbirds

  • will bathe in shallow water sources like natural pools or dishes, and enjoy “showering” in sprinklers and misters.
  • may consume 70 percent of their body weight, in solid food per day (8 to 12 calories) and 4 to 8 times their body weight, in water.

Gray Catbirds

  • love water and could visit moving water features in your yard.

Mourning Doves

  • are unable to sweat, so to stay cool during hot weather … they pant just like a dog. Panting requires the doves to drink a great deal of water due the excessive loss of moisture to evaporation.
  • are one of the few species of birds that drink by sucking up their water instead of taking a bill full of water and letting it trickle down their throat. It can suck up its total daily requirement in less than 20 seconds.

House Finches

  • are often attracted to a water source. They can drink up to 40% of their body weight on a hot summer day.

Goldfinch

  • drink frequently and will stay close to reliable sources of water during dry periods due to their almost exclusive diet of seeds.

House Sparrows

  • can swim when it needs to for survival. They have even been observed swimming underwater when threatened.