Say Goodbye To Traditional Bird Baths, Amazon Has A Solution For Renters And Small Spaces

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When looking outside your window, it's exciting to see birds hanging around your area. Their beautiful colors and songs bring a cheer to any day. Unfortunately, if you live in an area where you rent an apartment or you have a small backyard, finding a place to put a traditional bird bath is nearly impossible. Thankfully, the Hanizi Bird Bath Deck Mounted Bowl on Amazon lets you take advantage of railings to still bring in these lovely animals.

It connects with a fastener that can handle a horizontal deck bar around two inches thick. Find a place, clamp it on tight, and set the bowl in the indent. Then you have a bird bath ready to use. It's made from lightweight and light-colored plastic that's smooth and easy to clean. When paired with a few beautiful plants, it should help attract more birds to your apartment balcony.

"I recently purchased this deck-attached bird bath, and overall, I'm very happy with it," said a four-star review on Amazon. "The size is absolutely perfect—large enough to attract a variety of birds, but not so big that it overwhelms the space. It fits securely on the railing and has been a great addition to my outdoor space." Overall, this bird bath, though not traditional, has a great setup. The bowl has a shallow lip and isn't just immediately deep, which is one of the crucial mistakes you can make when choosing a bird bath. 

Despite having a good design in terms of depth and structure, the item is not perfect. Depending on how you set it up and what avian species are in your area, filling it to the top isn't ideal for every visitor. If you've had it up for a while and birds are stopping by without really exploring your mounted bowl, you may need to adjust it some. It has a maximum depth of about 3 inches, but for the most part, you don't want to go much above 2 inches. Additionally, the 12-inch diameter really only caters to small and medium birds, which may prefer your water even shallower.

Because this bath will mostly attract smaller species to bathe in it, you want to adjust it to best fit their needs. The easiest solution is to not fill up the tray. The deepest part shouldn't be more than 2 inches, preferably closer to 1.5, and the sides should be around half a meter to give smaller visitors an area to safely wade in. 

If possible, you also want to place it somewhere that doesn't get a lot of sun. The water can quickly heat up and start to grow bacteria, even with the light-colored plastic to slow down the process, which is one of the birdbath mistakes that keep birds away. Of course, you may still see larger visitors stop by. They will certainly drink from the water, but not bathe.

If your bird bath still doesn't attract as many visitors as you want, or if you're struggling to make sure the water levels stay low without running out, you can fill it up. However, consider adding a few flat stones to the bowl to give small birds a safe and comfortable space to land.

Additionally, moving water tends to entice more birds than still. A small bubbler, mister, or fountain addition may take up space, but can bring over other species that prefer the movement. Hummingbirds, for example, enjoy misters and fountains. These features not only help attract them close to your residence, but also give them a place to safely drink, bathe, and cool down. You'll just have to make sure you clean the bowl and whatever water feature you're using thoroughly to keep your visitors healthy.

To help this product last a long time, you don't want to leave it out all year. For those who live in colder environments, it should be emptied and potentially put inside when there is a chance of frost. "This bird bath didn't stand up to New England winters. Plastic bowl cracked and obviously no longer can hold water. I have had other bird baths hold up much better," said a one-star review on Amazon.