"Bird Poop" of north Texas: Don't put away your birdbath unless it's cheaply made

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Don't put away your birdbath unless it's cheaply made

Starting about now, a few people will put their birdbaths away (in the garage?). They're afraid that freezing weather in the future will cause cracks in a concrete birdbath. And they're right; if the birdbath is made of cheap, poorly-mixed concrete.

If the birdbath is made of good, well-made concrete it shouldn't crack in cold weather. Which is precisely when north Texas' birds need birdbaths the most!

Red-bellied Woodpecker

It may look like it but a woodpecker doesn't really walk up a tree trunk - it hops up the trunk using both feet at the same time. So for a fraction of a second it's completely airborne. If you look carefully, you can see this. (The woodpeckers we're likely to see in north Texas all year long are the Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Additionally, in cold weather we're likely to see the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Northern Flicker).