In this article, we will clarify what a person should consider when they decide to buy and improve their bird bath for our little friends so they can survive cold winters and enjoy snow as much as we do.
It can be quite a hard and challenging task to heat water for bird fountains during winter, especially if it is located somewhere in your backyard. Sometimes your electricity bill for only one day could go up by even $3! That’s bad for both the environment and your bank balance. However, leaving your backyard birds to fend for themselves is not an option.
After some detailed research I found what I think is the best deal based on price-quality ratio.
Let’s get started!
Contents
- 1 What are Bird Bath Heaters?
- 2 Why should I buy a bird bath?
- 3 Best Solar Powered Bird Bath Heaters
- 3.1 1. Farm Innovators Model GBD-75 3-In-1 Heated Birdbath, 75-Watt, Green
- 3.2 2. Songbird Essentials Heated Bird Bath
- 3.3 3. Mounted Heated Bird bath
- 3.4 4. Farm innovators Model HBC-120 All Seasons Decorative Gray Stone Scalloped Heated Bird bath with Deck Mount
- 3.5 5. Birds Choice Ivy Pedestal Heated Bird Bath
- 4 What to Look For in a bird bath heater?
- 5 Common questions
What are Bird Bath Heaters?
Let’s say that bird bath heater is the only hope for birds of prey to stay alive and survive the winter. And since they can not build them by themselves we are their only chance of survival.
From that being said, we can say that the bird bath heaters are an add-on for a regular bird bath that helps with keeping the water defrosted and pleasant through the whole winter. It doesn’t cost much and it helps a lot with the little creatures that we share earth with.
Why should I buy a bird bath?
Unfortunately we are the witnesses that the earth and the ecosystem is getting polluted every day, animals are losing their natural habitats and slowly dying.
Did you know that birds are in top 10 species of animals which are getting extinct more and more in the past couple of years?
One of the reasons why are they dying is that they are drinking polluted water. You can make a big change and save them.
Best Solar Powered Bird Bath Heaters
1. Farm Innovators Model GBD-75 3-In-1 Heated Birdbath, 75-Watt, Green
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This Model of Bird Bath has a hardware part that you can use to install on various places such as poles, your fence, rooftop, ground or on a bird house. It is also thermostatically controlled, and it’s even tested and proven to hold up to -10°F (or -23°C)! The area of heating panel is enough for four, maybe five little birds to use it all at once.
- Easy control – Because of its thermostatic control it is a great thing when it’s freezing outside so you don’t have to go out and turn it on and off manually.
- Economic – A low cost product, costing only a few pennies on daily operation when needed.
- Simple installation – Easy to mount on and off if you choose to place it on more sunny place.
- Slow heating up – Slower heating when not used for a long time, but it gets back in the shape very quickly.
We warmly recommend this bird bath heater because of its great price, mobility and specifications!
2. Songbird Essentials Heated Bird Bath
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This particular bird bath has a great eye catching design. It is also thermostatically controlled with 60W heating foil and it’s guaranteed to heat and hold up to -20°F ( or -28°C)! It’s a modern solution with minimum daily expenses.
- Quality – Modern, stable and high quality bird bath.
- Economic – A product that works for every penny spent on it, costing only a few pennies per day when it’s active.
- Environmental – Eco friendly and environment blending look.
- Low mobility – It’s not easily transferred from one location to another.
- Unstable – In case of very strong wind it can fall over.
Aldo it’s a bit more expensive than the first heater, it is worth every penny because it warms and stay warm on much colder temperature than the first one, yet it’s more expensive. If you can afford this piece of art, combined with high functionality, we’d recommend it.
3. Mounted Heated Bird bath
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Mounted Heated Bird bath is made of plastic which makes it very light. Heater is operating on 150w without any problems, and it stores the power inside on the sunny days, when not needed. Very modern and it’s keeping up with modern technology.
Being extremely simple to install, it’s one of the most grateful Bird bath heaters, as it won’t waste much of your time. You won’t need any complicated tools to install it.
- Edgy – Stable edges for birds, makes it feel like a natural place to stand on.
- Maintaining – High technology tilt-to-clean method which makes it easy to keep it clean all the time.
- Simple installation – Only basic tool needed for the installation.
- High mobility – Quick and easy mount on and off.
- Material – Made of plastic so it might fade its color away after a few years on the sun.
- No instructions – It doesn’t come with user instructions.
4. Farm innovators Model HBC-120 All Seasons Decorative Gray Stone Scalloped Heated Bird bath with Deck Mount
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Constructed by molded compression it has a very glamorous design that provides durability and long lasting, and it looks like a concrete made bird bath.
Made of high-grade materials, it should last for ages! Works on 120 watts and won’t add too much to your electricity bills. With several birds on, it provides quite a view!
- Quality – Modern and stable bird bath.
- Functionality – Easy to remove from the “twist on” mount for cleaning.
- Simple installation- It’s highly simple to install it, using only basic tools.
- Limitation – Can be shipped only in the U.S.
A great solution for people who can not decide which design they should buy.
And last one I wanted to share with you, but certainly not the least is…
5. Birds Choice Ivy Pedestal Heated Bird Bath
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Birds Choice Ivy Pedestal Heated Bird Bath has dimensions of: 20L x 20W x 24H in. It’s constructed from 50% recycled ABS plastic and it also has a heater that is thermostatically controlled.
It is stable, simple to install and to maintain.
- Simple – Simple to set up and maintain.
- Stable – Very sturdy and reliable.
- Mobility – Very mobile.
- Heavy – It is a little bit heavier than an average bird bath.
What to Look For in a bird bath heater?
If you really are a bird person and enjoy those beautiful, little creatures, you most definitely want them to feel safe and good around you and your backyard, and, in the end, to visit it more often or even make it their home too, am I right? I mean, who wouldn’t like to wake up to birds singing rather than traffic sounds?
So when you decide to buy your friends a place where they can visit you, you should consider price and quality of bird baths (some of them are just overrated and overpriced) so with a little more digging you can find great deals!
What you should look for is the price and what you get for what you are paying for, for example if the bird bath with the heater is a little more expensive than installing those two separately you should consider if it’s worth to extract your free time to set it up, when you can add an extra few bucks and buy it all combined.
In the other case, if the price is way more expensive than it should be, you should look for something that will be easy to install separately and easy to maintain.
With that being said, we come to another very important theme.
Maintenance
Now that you set up your bird bath and the birds started coming, you noticed that the bird bath is a little dirty, maybe even shaky or it has a lack of water in it. But just like any other thing that is being used, bird bath need some maintenance too so your little friends keep coming and enjoy being with you!
Cleaning
When it comes to the nastiest part you really want to finish it fast so you don’t have to breathe that smell for a long time. What I personally do is preparing warm water with lemon or vinegar (It’s a natural mixture which make it safe for the birds, u do not add any chemicals!) which make it more easier to peel off their mess, grab my gloves and with hard rubbing all over the bird bath I manage to take everything out in just a few minutes!
However, if that doesn’t work, try with some brushes, but be aware not to scratch or even break the bird bath!
Technical issues
If you notice that birds somehow managed to loosen up bird bath just tighten it up a little bit and that should do the work. But if you are just turning around your screwdriver you should check your nut and screw too. Anyway, shaky bird bath should represent the smallest problem that can happen.
However, another situation is this. You drink your coffee/tea near your window and enjoy white winter, but suddenly you see that your birds are not there and that scenario is repeating for a while, so you decide to go out and check your bird bath and see if it has any difficulties running and operating. You see that the water in it is frozen and that’s why your birds stopped appearing at your backyard!
A few ways of how can you get your birds back is to simply open up the heater and conclude the problem, than change a broken part and voila! (Often the warmer in the heater is a problem, but sometimes it just can be a wrinkled wire or something similar.)
Second option is to simply change the whole heater, if this appear as a better solution.
*Second option is often better just because fixing an old heater can cost nearly as much as the brand new heater.
A perfect deal
A person should consider all offers that he or she finds, but the choice, in my opinion, should ALWAYS be a verified and trustworthy seller with a history of happy customers and good, fair rating.
The market for the bird baths is very big so everyone can find the perfect designed bird bath for their backyard, from the specter of natural look that reminds of woods, rivers and animals to more fancy, sophisticated and luxury look.
Common questions
What kinds of birds can my bird bath take? This bird baths are constructed for all little creatures, not just birds. Believe it or not, bird bath is often used by squirrels too! But when it comes to birds, it can take pretty much any little or medium sized bird. It’s not made for big ones, unfortunately.
Can i make my own bird bath? Yes. You absolutely can. All it takes it right tools, and the best thing about building your own bird bath is that it does not take any heavy metallurgical or any other skills or tools. Just basic tools, right materials and a will to do everything right. You can have a lot of fun making it and, after finishing, you will have the feeling of satisfaction because you made something very useful and beautiful at the same time!
How can i decorate my bird bath? When it comes to decorating, you can pretty much do anything you imagine! You can, for example, grow some bushes around your bird bath, or make a fountain next to it! You can buy a water pump and with simple installing you got yourself a bird bath and a fountain at the same time! You can do a lot of great stuff when it comes to decorating, it just depends on how creative you are.
