Keep your bird bath clean. Rinse and refresh often, usually daily, in the summer. Don't wait until the water gets icky! If you see the water is discolored or there is algae, scrub your bird bath with baking soda, lemon juice or white vinegar and then rinse well. Never add chemicals to the water!
Bird baths are part of your home's outdoor ecosystem, so care should be taken to keep them safe for your feathered friends as well as for their environs. A stiff scrub brush and water, or a mild solution of diluted vinegar, is all that's needed to clean a bird bath of droppings, algae, and other pollutants.
Cleaning Concrete or Stone Bird Baths
You can use hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, or distilled vinegar to clean out your concrete bird baths.
According to The National Wildlife Federation (NWF), you can clean a bird bath with just water and a stiff bristle brush. Another option is to use a power washer with water and a jet nozzle, which is a fast, safe cleaning process.
Instead of using soap or bleach to clean the bird bath, the National Audubon Society recommends scrubbing it with nine parts water to one part vinegar. You might want to let the solution soak for a few minutes. Be sure to stay close to the bird bath so no birds sneak in!
Steps to Clean a Birdbath
Use a solution of one part distilled white vinegar to nine parts water to scrub the birdbath thoroughly. Scrub the basin, lip, and any area of the birdbath where the birds can land, perch, drink or bathe.
Wash Sooty Mold Off the Plants
If the outbreak is not extensive, you can use soap and water to wash the black coating off your plants.
Scrub your birdbath immediately if algae start to grow. Use very hot water and a good scouring brush. Water in birdbaths should be changed at least every three days, and in warm weather even more often. Algal growth is one issue, but even more urgent and potentially dangerous is the possibility of mosquitoes breeding.
If you happen to have a deeper bird bath, you can make it more appealing by adding in a few rocks in the middle or along the edges. This will give birds a place to land so they can splash and preen themselves in the water.
A weak bleach solution will kill the bacteria and algae living in your birdbath. Mix one part bleach with nine parts warm water and stir to create an effective cleaning agent that's safe to use on birdbaths.
This one surprised me! Of all the experiments, I thought surely this one would be a flop. But as it turns out, copper pennies do a pretty good job of keeping algae away for a few days!
Can I add vinegar to my bird's diet? Theoretically, yes, you can. A few drops of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar added to your bird's water bowl can help control the growth of harmful yeast and bacteria in the bird's body. However, you should always check with your avian vet before adding it to your pet's diet.
A simple mixture of baking soda (2 tablespoons), dish soap (a teensy squirt) and hot water, spritzed from a spray bottle onto the droppings and left to soak for 10 minutes, should clear off most stingy bird crud.
First, clean and prep the birdbath by removing all dirt and debris, then rinse with water. It's important that the concrete is completely dry before you prime and paint it. Apply a layer of latex primer to prevent moisture from getting into the concrete and help the paint stick. Once it's dry, paint.
Baking Soda: Sprinkle soda over the bird bath, scrub well, hose down thoroughly, fill the basin, dump, and fill again to ensure no baking soda remnants are left behind.
Use White Vinegar to Remove Algae
White vinegar can quickly kill algae but is not harmful to birds, insects and the majority of plants. Use a mixture of one part water to one part white vinegar to spray down the area and kill the algae. Rinse the surface algae off the concrete with a water hose.
In most cases, you should not wash your bird with soap.
However, it may get into oil or some other substance that comes off only with soap. Use a mild soap and gently bathe your bird to clean it. Make sure your bird is stable enough to wash with soap.
Chlorine bleach, phenols and ammonia can all have dangerous vapors that can cause irritation, toxicosis and even death in pet birds.
The best method to remove the mold is to soak affected plants in a water and detergent mixture. Use 1 tablespoon of household liquid detergent per gallon of water and spray it on the plants. Wait 15 minutes, then wash the detergent solution off with a strong stream of water.
2.5 tablespoons of liquid dishwashing soap (preferably Dawn or Lemon Joy) and not automatic dishwasher soap Mix with 2.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil per gallon of warm water.
Using a horticultural oil such as EarthCare White Oil insect spray or EarthCare Enviro Pest Oil insect spray will help to control the insects that secrete honeydew. As the supply of honeydew gradually runs out, the sooty mould will disappear.