Time for a bath: visitors to our bird bath

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Some years ago we set up a bird bath on our patio area. It gave us much pleasure to see birds coming to drink and bathe. More recently we moved it to the other side of the house. Now it is in full view from our sun room. It is here we often eat our meals, and work at the table with the bird bath in full view.

Over recent years, this location has had four main benefits:

1. It is a great time waster investment; watching the birds go about their daily lives just a few metres from where we are sitting is both relaxing and refreshing to the body, mind and spirit.
2. It is most entertaining, especially when a bird like a Mallee Ringneck Parrot comes to bathe and the water sprays in all directions.
3. It is excellent for photography; with the 12X zoom on my camera I have taken many close up shots of the birds visiting.
4. It is educational; our human visitors marvel at our avian visitors and this gives us the opportunity to further enhance our friends’ appreciation of the natural environment.

White Plumed Honeyeater

I’ve actually installed three different baths in close proximity to one another; one on the ground (which the lizards sometimes use too), one at a height of about 60cm and the third at about 1.5m. This gives them choices. The nearby branches and bushes give them a place of refuge if they feel threatened in any way.

House Sparrow (male)

A List of Species that have visited our bird baths:

• Mallee Ringneck Parrot
• New Holland Honeyeater
• Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater
• Red Wattlebird
• Brown Headed Honeyeater
• Singing Honeyeater
• House Sparrow
• Common Starling
• Little Raven
• Willie Wagtail
• Spotted Turtledove
• Crested Pigeon
• Spotted Pardalote
• Striated Pardalote
• Diamond Firetail Finch
• Yellow Rumped Thornbill
• Grey Shrike Thrush
• Australian Magpie
• Magpie Lark
• Mistletoebird
• Common Blackbird

That’s quite a list!
I’ve posted several of the photos taken at the bird bath over the last year or so. More can be found on our photo gallery.

UPDATE: More recently we have added the following species to the list:

• Rufous Whistler
• European Goldfinch
• Chestnut Rumped Thornbill

UPDATE #2 Two more species to add to the list:

• Stumpy Tail Lizard (also called a Shingleback Lizard)
• Red Fox - yes, that’s right, a fox.

UPDATE #3 Another species to add to the list: Grey Fantail - it came to the bird bath briefly but left before I could take a photograph (4th May, 2007)

UPDATE #4 In January 2008 we had a single Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike come to drink briefly from the bird bath.

UPDATE #5 In late January 2008 a single Galah came to within a metre of the bird bath but did not drink. A few weeks later I added Grey Currawong to the list.

Mallee Ringneck Parrot

Mallee Ringneck Parrot

Mallee Ringneck Parrot