our stories: WILDLIFE
BY DEBBIE NEWKIRK
Wild Bird Center in Weatherford, Texas
AUGUST 2016 PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
B
irds, like people, need water
to survive. Just like us, they
drink it, play in it, and bathe in it.
Unlike people, they don’t have a
faucet to turn on to get fresh, clean
water. So where do birds get their
water? Finding and using water
requires birds to be ingenious. As
with food, most water is located
visually by birds. Very small
amounts of water can help sustain
life, and birds find it everywhere.
Puddles on the roadside, low spots
50
in a field, leaking water faucets,
water run-off – all are water sources. Some birds even drink the dew
off leaves and raindrops from pine
needles!
But for most birds, it’s the sparkling surface of a pond, stream,
puddle, or birdbath that signals
the presence of a water source.
Once birds find water, the majority of them drink by dipping their
bills in it then holding their heads
up so the water flows down their
throats. As for bathing, most birds
need relatively shallow watering
holes. Most birds don’t swim and
prefer to bathe in water an inch or
so deep. Ideal baths slope inward
to a depth of no more than three
inches.
Once located and deemed reliable, visiting a water source, such
as a birdbath can become a part of
a bird’s daily routine. Birds learn
to depend on them and come back
daily to drink and/or bathe. One of