Bird Baths: Know The Benefits And The Risks

Adding bird baths to your backyard or home landscape can be a great way to beautify your property. By placing bird baths on your property, you will supply the neighborhood flock with a crucial water source in which to bathe, drink and preen. A heated bird bath will even help birds survive the cold winter months by providing fresh water all year round. But while you may know the many benefits of bird baths, you may not know that these seemingly innocuous ornaments can be deadly. Without proper cleaning a maintenance, your bird bath will become a container of stagnant, standing water, potentially providing mosquitoes a place to breed. Before buying a bird bath, it is important to understand the potential hazards so you can avoid them.

Dirty Bird Baths Harbor Bacteria

There are any number of dangerous bacteria that can grow in stagnant water, such as e. coli, which causes a disease known as colibacillosis. According to the Hunker, birds that contract this disease, `…may experience blood poisoning, inflammation of the joints, inflammation of the heart sac, chronic respiratory disease and inflammation of the oviduct.” This disease is also dangerous for humans, causing fever, diarrhea and causing lesions to develop on the skin. Other types of bacteria found in stagnant bird bath water include Mycobacterium avium, the bacteria that causes avian tuberculosis and salmonella, which, in serious cases, can lead to death in humans.

Dirty Bird Baths Are Breeding Grounds For Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes pose one of the most serious threats to the bird bath owner. Not only are mosquitoes a nuisance, they carry potentially deadly viruses, such as Zika and the West Nile Virus. As pointed out by McCall, mosquitoes also carry, “…Chikungunya, Dengue, Eastern equine encephalitis, filariasis, including dirofilaria, which causes dog heartworm, Jamestown Canyon virus disease, Japanese encephalitis, LaCrosse encephalitis, malaria, Rift Valley, Ross River virus disease, St. Louis encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Western equine encephalitis and yellow fever.” Clearly, keeping your bird bath mosquito free should be a top priority. Regular cleaning, scrubbing with with a stiff brush and any number of commercially available cleaning solutions are al ways to minimize risk.

Dirty Bird Baths Have Already Killed Thousands Of Birds

A 2010 Daily Mail article maintains that thousands of birds have already died in Britain due to infected bird baths and bird feeders. According to this article, in 2005, nearly 1 in 5 greenfinches in Britain was killed by Trichomoniasis, a disease that is caused by a parasite in the upper digestive tract. The parasite spreads when birds feed each other and they drink from infected bird baths. The article further emphasizes the need for propery bird bath hygiene. Feather mites are another form of parasite that can be prevalent in improperly maintained bird baths. It is common in breeds such as blue jays and cardinals and typically causes birds to lose their feathers on their head.

As you can see, good bird bath maintenance is essential to protecting the health of humans and wild life. Maintaining a bird bath is not difficult and doing so will ensure your backyard remains a healthy bird habitat.