Keeping a birdbath clean can be a lot of work, there are many tips and tricks on the Internet that claim to help keep birdbaths clean, from using olive oil, salad oil, and other oils in the birdbath, but what actually works?
It is said that you can keep a birdbath clean by throwing copper pennies in it, but does this work? This article looks into throwing copper pennies into birdbaths.
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Copper pennies in birdbath:
If you have a birdbath in your back or your front garden, then keeping it clean is very important.
If birdbaths aren’t properly maintained then all kinds of contaminants can make their way into the birdbath, birdbaths can harbor a variety of diseases that can affect humans.
One particular issue that comes with owning a birdbath is algae growing in the birdbath, it is said that using copper pennies in your birdbath will prevent algae from growing in the bath, but does this work? and how does it work?
Copper pennies do help to keep birdbaths somewhat free of algae. Copper has biostatic properties, if you use copper pennies in your birdbath then the algae growth in your birdbath will be minimal thanks to the copper pennies.
All pennies are not the same:
For this to work, and if you’re using U.S pennies, you’d need to make sure that you use pre-1982 copper pennies, these are made of 95 percent copper. Pennies made after 1982 have zinc in them (about 95 percent zinc).
Zinc is highly toxic to birds and will seriously harm birds visiting your birdbath.
Tough cleaning products that may be used to clean your birdbath may expose the zinc under the layer of copper on the coins.
If you don’t have any copper pennies, you can use a different copper item. Copper tubing, a copper pipe, or coins from a different country can be used.
Other coins, like Canadian pennies manufactured between 1876 and 1996, can be used, they have higher levels of copper in them, around 95%.
Using copper pennies will work, but, using copper items other than copper pennies is recommended because you can choose to use a larger-sized item.
Birds may try to eat the shiny copper penny, so, using a larger copper item, that the bird can’t swallow, is recommended.
That being said, using copper in a birdbath is not an absolute way to keep algae away, if the temperatures and environment exceed 90° for long periods of time, then the algae will grow even if you have copper in the birdbath.
Is placing copper pennies in bird baths safe?
Yes, using copper pennies to help minimize algae growth in your birdbath is safe, however, it is important to know how much to use, too much isn’t safe.
You can easily poison birds if you use too many copper pennies in their birdbath. The recommended number of copper pennies for a normal-sized birdbath is seven to ten copper pennies.
It is important to note that using copper coins in a birdbath that contains fish is not recommended, copper is not safe for fish. Copper coins are particularly bad for fish like trout, koi, and juvenile fish of different species.
Fish in ponds take in oxygen produced by algae, if you get rid of all the algae in a pond full of fish then you’d be removing the fish’s oxygen supply.
If you really need to get rid of the algae in your fish pond then you’d have to aerate the pond using an aerating device to keep the fish safe
What about using a copper bird bath?
Using a copper birdbath will minimize the growth of algae in the birdbath, but this is not an absolute way to keep algae away. Algae will still grow in a copper birdbath, albeit very slowly, because of this, you’d still need to clean the bath regularly.
You can clean your copper birdbath using white vinegar and salt, this will renew the copper birdbath.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Olive Oil In Bird Bath, Apple Cider Vinegar For Cockatiels, Apple Cider Vinegar For Canaries, Apple Cider Vinegar For Bird Yeast Infection, Apple Cider Vinegar For Bird Mites
