The brown-headed cowbird fledgling on the left sat on the edge of the bird bath daily for most of the month of July. It was waiting for its surrogate parent, a dark-eyed Junco, to join it with tasty morsels in its beak. One day this female western tanager couldn’t wait any longer for the bath to be free. It flew right in, landed, looked at the fledgling and proceeded to dive in for its bath! The brilliantly colored male was not seen at our baths this year.

In keeping with looking after our feathered friends throughout the year this article features our bathing beauties of 2022.

Making water available for the birds is an important component of helping the birds all year — whether it be with a bird bath, water feature or both. Birds need drinks and they like to bathe. This is a look at some of the birds that visited the bird baths in the yard so far this year.

Some birds like robins want to have the bird bath to themselves, especially if they are bathing. A robin will tolerate a second robin but doesn’t hesitate to act aggressively to drive it off.

Others don’t mind company at all. Red crossbills and pine siskins, for example, will come in flocks to drink and bathe. Other species like the house sparrow, house finch and purple finch will also come in flocks to the bird bath.

It is a good idea to place bird baths close to cover in case a bird has to make a quick escape. Species like the orange-crowned warbler and the yellow-rumped warbler seem to like waiting in the salal if there is an occupant when they arrive. If the waiting warbler becomes impatient it may try to sneak in from under cover behind the occupant for a drink and sometimes a bath. I have seen this tactic work many times. The warbler is in and out before its presence is even noticed.

Bird behavior at the bird bath can be very interesting and entertaining.

Happy birding!