Bathing Birds

Bath time has always been a favourite thing to do for most of the birds (there are actually exceptions). It is also a time consuming activity especially so if you keep an unsane number of birds. Just sharing how I manage.

For Oriental White Eyes (Mata Puteh), the occasional luxury I can accord them is a hanging bath cage in a sunny area where I know the shadow will cover it within 20 minutes. In this bath cage, I provide food and a big cup of water (to bath). A tray would be out of the question as it would be too heavy when filled with water. It has the purpose of providing extra space, activities, sunning and "bath all you like" for the enjoyment of the birds.



Then there are the Red-whiskered Bulbuls (Merbah Jambul) which is more straight forward. A round aluminium container filled with water is placed inside their cage for them to bath as and when they want.

The White-rumped Shamas that tends to get their tail damaged in a bathing cage, the set up would be like below. Cage and bath cage is aligned so that the bird is free to bath and get back to its cage to shake and preen itself.
This is not without risk especially where there are energetic pets running around or the inquisitive children at home ;)



Territorial birds like the Shamas can turn a mundane bathing event to a "mini singing contest". Its a joy or nuisance depending on how much time one has. If all the time in the world, then its a fun thing to observe. If rushing to fetch the kids or something, not many birds will get their bath :(