A Step-By-Step To Making Your Own Recirculating Birdbath

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Adding a birdbath to your backyard is a sweet decorative touch: You create a tiny wildlife spa and hydration station rolled into one. It's also a simple method for attracting more songbirds to your yard and garden. Birds need fresh water to drink and splash around in, especially during scorching summer days or long dry spells when puddles are few and far between. Bath time helps them keep their feathers fluffed just right for flying and staying warm or cool enough. And a good birdbath can attract all kinds of feathered friends — even migratory visitors you don't normally see. Bees and butterflies love a good shallow water source, too. If you want to level up your birdbath game, go for one with recirculating water. And the great thing is, you don't have to buy a fancy one when you can DIY your own birdbath fountain with a flower pot, pump, and a few tools.

For this DIY recirculating birdbath, you'll need a large terra cotta flower pot, a water pump and hose, ½-inch PVC pipe, rubber stopper, cinder blocks, waterproof caulk, waterproof exterior paint, and a drill with masonry bits to fit tubing and PVC through the bottom cinder block and top perch, and to drill a small hole in the stopper plug.

A recirculating birdbath keeps the water flowing, fresh, and inviting: Birds are drawn to the sound and sparkle of moving water. Plus, that gentle motion helps fend off algae and bacteria that thrive in still water. It's also a clever hack to banish pesky mosquitoes from turning your birdbath into their nursery. So, the mini nature retreat in your backyard will give your local wildlife a cleaner, healthier, and far more appealing place to visit.

YouTuber Do It Yourself Home and Garden Guy starts this project with a simple, large terra cotta pot treated with waterproof paint, like Drylok Original Waterproofer for concrete and masonry, to keep the water where it belongs. Drill a hole in the bottom of the pot to run your pump cord through. A small submersible pump (the kind used in tabletop fountains), like the Pulaco 400GPH variable speed submersible pump, gets water flowing. You want the flow control option so you can turn your birdbath into a gentle babbling brook instead of a feather-blasting geyser. Stack some cured cinder blocks (soak new concrete blocks in water for a day to lower their pH) inside to support a platform which the fountain will pop up out of and smaller birds can use as a perch.

Next, grab some ½-inch PVC pipe and fit it into a hole you drilled into the platform. Drill a small hole into a rubber cork, slice it on one side, and fit it around your pump cord. Slide in the pump, stack your blocks (drill two holes in the bottom so water flows to the pump), top it off with a decorative basin or platform, and fill the pot with fresh water. 

Flip the switch, and you've got a custom bird spa that circulates water. Don't be surprised if it becomes the hottest hangout on the block, especially if you choose a birdbath size and style to suit your local wildlife. And the best part? You can totally make it your own with different pots, toppers, and styles. You can customize it taking into consideration other features you look for when buying or building a birdbath.