Experts Say Adding Copper Coins to Your Bird Bath Can Fix a Common Problem That Many Ignore

As birds plunge into the miniature bathtub in gardens, their tiny feet lap into the bath and their fuzzy bodies revel heartily in the cool water. However, simply installing a bird bath and filling it with water isn't enough. Since most bird baths are installed in open surroundings such as a garden or a backyard, it makes the water in the bath is prone to getting dirty more often than not. When not cleaned for a long stretch, a bird bath can turn smelly with the chemicals of old feathers, bird poop, twigs, uneaten food, and dead bodies of flies. The water can turn greenish, nebulous, slimy, mushy, or cloudy, forming a scum or foam on the surface which will instantly repel your feathery guest if they arrive in your garden.

To keep them happy and coming again and again for a bath, you must make sure that the bathtub is good enough to please their senses. Adding copper coins to the bird bath is one brilliant trick that experts suggest for maintaining cleanliness. Although these coins won’t make solid debris and objects disappear from the water, they are good for one thing: the removal of algae. Country Living magazine suggests cleaning the bird bath with warm, soapy water, wiping it with a sponge, and placing a copper coin in the middle before refilling it with fresh water.

Copper, according to a study published in Environmental Pollution, acts as a natural algaecide. The fundamental nature of copper molecules allows it to suppress the growth and breeding of algal blooms. The moment copper comes in contact with algae, it binds and clings to the proteins in its body and makes them weaker and weaker until they’re deprived of all the essential nutrients. Once lacking nutrients, copper assaults algae’s integrity. Cell membranes are disintegrated, and photosynthesis is inhibited. Bit by bit, all the algae are killed and destroyed, which leaves the water clean for the birds to bathe and drink.

But there’s another factor that comes into play here. Birding experts Kenn Keffer and Kimberly Kaufman shared with Birds & Blooms that copper coins may not always be a surefire solution to kill the algae. The concentration of copper matters too. Plus, it’s not long-lasting. “Over the years, there has been a lot of discussion about using copper to inhibit the growth of algae. While it works to a point, algae eventually will grow in all birdbaths, even if one is made out of copper. Pennies include other metals, and traces of those metals might contaminate the water and could be harmful to birds. To keep your birdbath in a suitable condition for your feathered guests, there’s just no substitute for frequent cleaning.”

RSPB confirms that copper coins placed in a bath don’t pose any danger to the bird visitors. “It is not dangerous to birds, and it is a tried-and-true method for lowering algae and keeping your bird bath cleaner for longer,” the organization clarifies. So, essentially, what would be a mere visual accessory behind a glass exhibit of a museum could turn your bird bath into a teeming murmuration of passerines, black-capped warblers, jewel-throated hummingbirds, robins, bluebirds, white-cheeked honeyeaters, budgies, and the rest of the party.