Summary: A bird bath, as shown in the figure above, is a small artificial puddle on a pedestal. There are various types of these bird baths and they are made up of various materials like wood, concrete etc, however, in this article, we will discuss the concrete bird bath and how to make it yourself. The main part of a bird bath is the basin which is used for drinking and bathing purposes by the birds.
Bird baths are on of the strongest attractions for birds and it also looks really attractive in your garden. During droughts, it becomes more attractive for the birds. In order to attract various species of birds, you should have a very shallow bird bath that should be safe from cats and filled with clean water.
Refilling the bird bath with fresh water is another important consideration that you should keep in mind.
This helps in avoiding any contamination and mosquitoes that are usually attracted by dirty water. It should not be too deep; 2 inches deep water at the center of the bird bath is what you should look for. This is because most of the backyard birds do not submerge their body under water. These birds only dip their wings in order to splash water on others or on their own back. To hide the birds from predators like cats etc, you should keep in mind that the pedestal should be elevated enough to hide the birds from these predators.
This is one of the main safety measures that you should keep in consideration while building a bird bath. Another important tip in deciding the ideal location for the bird bath is to make a bird bath at a place where there is an overhanging limb is available nearby so that the bird can fly up there in the case of attack or disturbance.
Let’s start the bird bath project:
The following main steps are involved in the project of concrete bird bath. You have the option of getting a ready made bird bath but it always gives a great feeling when you make it yourself. Carefully read the following points / steps in order to make a perfect concrete bird bath for your backyard birds.
· The first step in the making of a bird bath is to pile some amount of sand in a particular shape of an inverted bowl. You may be required to dampen the sand you are using; this is because you want it to hold the shape.
· After you have completed the above step, you should cover the sand with a plastic sheet. If you have a plastic garbage bag in your home, you can use it as well. It serves the purpose well.
· Now comes the task of mixing up the concrete. You have the option of buying a pre-mixed concrete that is not too expensive as well. By buying pre-mixed concrete, you don’t have to do anything else than mixing water in it. Make sure that you don’t add too much water in the concrete otherwise it will loose its strength. Take a hand full of concrete and make a ball of it that should be around 4-5 inches in diameter.
· Now place the ball of concrete that you have made at the top of the sand pile and then start patting it until you get the shape of a thick concrete pancake which should be at least half-inch thick. Continue this process until the sand pile is covered with half-inch of concrete.
· After you have done it, you have to cover the concrete with the help of any hardware cloth. Covering concrete is one of the important step in any concrete project.
· Now, you have finally formed the bowl for your concrete bird bath. The bowl, as we know, should have a peg on the bottom in order to fit it into the pedestal. To form this peg, you can use a small paper cup. Make sure that the cup you use should be tapered. It should be wide from the top than the bottom. It should fit inside the tube that you will use for the base of the pedestal. You can coat the inside of the cup with motor oil or any other oil as a form releasing material.
· Fill the cup that you have used with concrete and position it upside down in order to place it properly on the top of the bowl.
· If you make a big sand pile for your bird bath, you may have to end up in using more concrete. There is no need to make huge sand piles for the bird bath.
· The mailing tube of the pedestal should be around four inch in diameter. The height of this tube should be enough so that no predator like cats etc can see the birds enjoying on the bird bath.
· You can use some chicken wire flat on the top of the table exactly around the bottom of the base of the tube and you can also use some concrete around the bottom of the tube as well. The chicken wire is usually used as a reinforcing agent. The mailing tube is usually half-full of concrete, however, you can use more concrete as well in order to increase its strength.
· After you have used the concrete at all places, the last thing you need to do is to cover it completely using plastic sheets and it dry for two days. The plastic sheets will also help in preventing the concrete from rain and it will also help in avoiding the concrete drying too quickly.
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