Public Bathing

In recent months, many people have been discovering, or rediscovering, their yards as habitat, and the wildlife they can encounter and support through their landscaping choices. Have you been putting our feeders to lure birds, or adding different varieties of feeders to attract different birds?

A house sparrow tests the water then thinks better of a dip.

Birds are such an immediate and visible reminder of our connection to other species. Where insects are often too small or fast-moving to notice, and mammals are usually (and with good reason) wary of making an appearance around humans, many birds share our same daytime schedule, and are not terribly shy about getting within easy spotting distance outside our windows. Many types of feeders allow us to bring different birds to our yards: hummingbird feeders full of sweet nectar, peanut feeders for titmice and woodpeckers, thistle socks for goldfinches, and old reliable sunflowers beloved by many of our feathered visitors.

Peeping at a bathing house finch.

And even better than birdfeeders are the baths! Hearing the tiny "thunk" followed by vigorous splashing will bring me to the window faster than a cat, where I will lurk behind potted plants and spy on the bather. The house finch that perches on the lip of the flat saucer, delicately testing the water with its bill over and over again, teasing the moment when it hops in and begins shaking and fluffing, dipping its head and flapping its wings. It is a moment of abandon and vulnerability, out in the open, eyes often closed against the splashing water. Some birds just take a quick splash and then fly off, while others will linger--dip and shake, dip and shake--sometimes pausing to cock an eye skyward before resuming.

These yard birds have it good, with fresh, clean water provided daily. Those less citified cousins on the Greenway, however, make do in puddles and shallows when they can. Although they seem a bit...dirty...to my eyes, the birds seem to enjoy them with as much vigor as the more sophisticated tubs.

Common Grackle bathing in one of the Greenway cells.