Took me 2 years to figure out my bird bath was scaring off finches

I kept wondering why goldfinches would never land in my yard even though I have thistle feeders. Turns out my $40 cement bird bath was way too deep for them, like 3 inches of water. I finally switched to a shallow dish with a rock in the middle and now I see 5 or 6 finches just about every morning. Did anyone else have a bird bath depth issue or am I just slow on the uptake?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettymurphy6d ago

Oh man, my best friend had the exact same problem with her backyard setup. She bought this fancy glazed bird bath from a garden center and couldn't figure out why only the sparrows would splash around. She was pretty frustrated because she specifically wanted to attract the little finches too. Then her neighbor told her goldfinches are super picky about water depth, so she swapped it out for a terracotta saucer with some pebbles in the bottom. Now she says they come by in groups of three or four, just dipping their feet and drinking. Have you noticed a difference in which species show up since you made the change?

the_phoenix6d ago

Three days after I switched to a shallow terra cotta saucer with river stones, I actually counted seven goldfinches huddled around the edge. I always thought those little guys just wanted any water source, but watching them avoid the deep bird bath for weeks totally proved me wrong. The sparrows still use the old bath but now the finches have their own little spot and it's nice seeing them both happy.