How To Keep Bird Bath From Freezing Without Electricity

Think about a hard frost, chilly night! Birds are huddling together and fluffing up their wings to protect themselves from the harsh cold. They still need fresh water for drinking and preening. But water is frozen everywhere.

Now, what’s your role as a backyard bird enthusiast? It’s high time to winterize your bird bath. Many people think they require electric power for that. But in reality, you can do it with a few creative techniques.

Here are 10 different ways to keep your bird bath from freezing without electricity.

Which method is effective and how many steps you need to take will depend on how cold your surroundings are and how long cold snaps last. However, every drop of water you offer to winter birds will be helpful to them.

Read Also: Why Don’t Birds Feet Freeze In Cold Weather?

How Can You Keep Bird Bath From Freezing Without Electricity?

1. Buy A Winter-Friendly Bird Bath

If you still don’t have a birdbath, we recommend you buy one that can withstand harsh winter weather without cracking and breaking. Here is what you should choose and what you should avoid. For the winter conditions, the best birdbath materials are:

• Resin
• Reinforced Plastic
• Metal

On the other hand, the birdbath materials prone to cracking in cold temperatures include:

• Ceramic
• Concrete
• Glass
• Mosaic
• Porcelain
• Stone

Our recommendation is VIVOHOME Polyresin Lightweight Bird Bath on Amazon. This birdbath comes with durable construction that can withstand any chilly weather. It will also prevent leaks of water. That’s why the water in the bath won’t freeze quickly.

2. Choose the Right Location

Once you have a winter-friendly birdbath, it’s time to set it in the right location to stop it from freezing. There are three locations out there that could be the ideal place for your birdbath. You can choose any of them.

1. Sunny Areas
2. Heated Areas
3. Sheltered Areas

#Sunny Areas

If you would like to slow down the freezing process, place your birdbath in the sunniest spot in your backyard. The water in the bath can absorb solar heat to prevent ice from forming and remain liquid throughout the day.

However, once the sun goes away, the water in the bath will start to freeze. That’s why you should opt for either a heated or sheltered location for nighttime. In the morning, place the bath again in a sunny location.

#Heated Areas

To keep your birdbath heated, move it to a patio area of your backyard. An area with a fire pit or a patio heater will produce hot air in your backyard. As a result, the water in your birdbath will get heat and remain liquid longer than usual.

In our opinion, use these types of locations at night when you don’t get sunlight. You can even place your birdbath near a fire pit in the day if the weather is too chilly, particularly in late December and early January.

#Sheltered Areas

Are you looking for a place for setting up your birdbath in winter to keep the ice away? We recommend you choose a sheltered location, like hedges, under a tree, or a pergola, in your backyard. You can even make a windbreak with some bricks.

Snow, sleet, and freezing winds make temperature fall quickly. If you choose any of the above locations, the ice forming process will be delayed. Make sure to opt for a place not easy to get access by your house cats.

3. Put An Icebreaker In The Water

If water moves, it’s a lot difficult for it to freeze. You can follow a simple trick to keep your bird bath water liquid for longer. Use a small but movable object, like a small ball in the basin. Whenever the wind blows, it moves across the surface and stops water to turn into ice.

Besides, we would like to suggest you purchase a device called a water wiggler (amazon). This device doesn’t require any wire or plumbing; just operates silently on a couple of D-cell batteries. It creates small ripples across the birdbath and prevents the water from freezing.

4. Add Solar Bird Bath Fountains

You might have known about solar bird bath fountains. These devices help keep birdbath water unfrozen. Would you like to have one? Our recommendation is the Mademax Solar Bird Bath Fountain that you can find on Amazon.

For your information, solar bird bath fountains are not suitable for harsh winter conditions. Due to insufficient sunlight hours in winter, a birdbath fountain may not be able to keep a bird bath ice-free. We suggest using this device in early and late winter.

5. Darken the Surface

To absorb heat more effectively, you can add a black plate, a few black river rocks, or a black plastic sheet to the bottom of your birdbath. These things keep the birdbath water stay liquid longer than usual. You can even cover the edges of your birdbath with them.

We have a few recommendations for you. For a black plate, you can try the BonNoces 10-inch Matte Porcelain Plate from Amazon. Surprisingly, you will be able to buy black river rocks on Amazon. The Margo Garden Rainforest Grade Black Pebbles could be the best.

6. Keep The Birdbath Full

Regardless of whether you use any technique or not, you can prevent your bird bath from freezing by keeping the basin full with fresh water all the time. The little the water in the birdbath, the more quickly it will freeze.

While filling the birdbath, don’t use chemicals, like salt, sugar, alcohol, glycerine, or any anti-freezing ingredients. Keep in mind that birds are going to drink the water. These ingredients, whether they’re non-toxic, can harm the visitors.

7. Line the Bath with a Polythene Sheet

If your birdbath still freezes after applying a few techniques, you can line it with plastic sheeting. Once the bird bath freezes, just lift the polythene sheet along with the ice. Place a new sheet and then keep the bath full with fresh water.

Looking for quality plastic sheeting? You can try RolyPoly Plastic Sheeting from Amazon. Why should you not break the ice? If you force to break the ice, you may break your birdbath. So, placing polythene sheets on the surface is better.

8. Change The Water Every Day

In order to keep bird bath water ice-free, change the water every day or at least every other day. Keep a couple of bird baths and rotate them regularly. Read our article on keeping hummingbird feeders from freezing to know a few more techniques.

9. Place a Hot kettle or Saucepan on the Surface

To heat the birdbath water, place a hot kettle or saucepan on the surface until the ice melts. You can also add just a bit of warm water. However, don’t pour hot boiled water directly on the surface. Otherwise, your birdbath can get damaged.

Final Thoughts

We know that taking care of a birdbath, particularly in winter, takes a lot of hard work. But, if you keep your bird bath ice-free, you’ll be able to help many winter birds survive harsh weather conditions and satisfy their thirst.

In this article, we have already let you know 9 useful ways to keep your bird bath from freezing without electricity. Consider buy a winter-friendly birdbath and place it in the right spot. Let us know below which technique suits your birdbath most.

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