Add A Coin To Your Birdbath To Easily Slow Down Algae Growth

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Birdbaths are a wonderful addition to your garden and provide a reliable drinking source and bathing place for your bird friends. There are scores of birdbath sizes, styles, and materials available to choose from but if you know what to look for when buying or building a birdbath you can find the perfect one for your yard. One problem that crops up repeatedly with birdbaths is algal growth. Adding a few copper pennies to your birdbath can slow down the growth of algae and reduce the amount of time you have to spend dealing with this slimy problem. The reason pennies help is because copper is biostatic and organic matter such as algae won't grow as easily. The leaching of copper ions into the water is what spreads the wealth from penny to birdbath. It's important to note that for the safety of the birds, you need to use pennies dated before 1982 when they were 95% copper. Pennies dated after 1982 are 97.5% zinc with copper plating and zinc can be hazardous to birds.

Algal growth is caused by algae spores being dropped into the water when the birds land in it, by the wind blowing spores into the bath, and even from nearby trees. Where you place your birdbath can also help reduce algal growth. Sitting in sunlight all day can aggravate the problem so look for places in the yard that have some sunlight for water warming benefits but never all-day sun especially if you live in warm climates or the water can become too hot, which is reason enough to think twice about putting birdbaths in direct sunlight.

When it comes to preventing algae build up in your birdbaths, nothing beats regular cleaning. Combine that with adding copper pennies to the water, and you'll have the cleanest birdbaths on the block! Emptying, scrubbing, and refilling your birdbaths every couple of days will reduce algae formation and help prevent diseases and illnesses being spread to your birds. In summertime, daily cleaning and adding fresh water is not out of line, especially if you have a lot of bird traffic. The more birds that use the birdbaths the more often you should clean it.

One of the major benefits to frequent cleaning is that it's also a major hack for banish pesky mosquitoes from your birdbath, because they are a common breeding ground for these pests. Changing the water daily or every other day disrupts the cycle and they won't breed there. Keeping the water moving with a birdbath fountain like this Mademax solar birdbath fountain also prevents mosquitoes from setting up camp and causing problems.

As much as we would like to say adding pennies will get rid of your algae once and for all, we can't. Adding pre-1982 pennies helps slow the growth, but what really gets rid of any existing algae and prevent it from becoming a problem is the combination of proper cleaning on a regular basis and a handful of those copper pennies. That combo will provide you with a clean, sparkling birdbath that is sure to help attract more songbirds to your yard and garden.