How to Build an Unbelievable Self-Filling Solar Powered Birdbath

In the summer months, it is hard to keep the birdbath full because of evaporation, so I came up with this idea. It started with a 5-gallon bucket and an inexpensive plug-in water pump. The pump is installed at the bottom of the bucket and pumps water through the center of the bird bath. The return hose returns the water to the bucket and keeps the water circulating. The beauty of this design is that I can keep the birdbath full of water by keeping a 5-gallon reservoir instead of just relying on the capacity of the bird bath alone. Once I proved the concept, I switched over to a solar-powered pump. Later I wrapped the bucket in camo tape to help it blend in and used an enzyme to keep the water clean. The good news is now I only need to clean the water about once every two weeks, and the bath is always full. The last thing I need to do is put a screen over the bucket to keep unwanted things from falling into the bucket.

[workingTchr]

Very nice. But the drawback is the water getting funky pretty fast --keeping leafs out, adding enzyme (not great if you're a bird drinking it). For now, I still have to get out there almost every day and rinse and fill them with the hose. But very well done.

[irairod]

I used your idea to make my own self-filling birdbath! The only difference is that the reservoir in mine is directly under the bath. I used a large resin planter with the drain hole plugged. It works beautifully! Thank you!

[tennesseehomesteader]

Yeah this is more in line with my thinking... internalize the tubing to make it look more pretty, put the bucket into the ground to keep the water cool, and instead of the water just coming out and going into the bowl have it dribble down something like a ramp so that the water drips through the holes and bird poop and bugs and leaves get constantly pushed out of the bath and you have a constant cool water, debris filtering, solar bird bath. Something that I always see that gets ignored a sunshade. No one ever does this!!!! It is amazing to me that people don't think that the birds wouldn't enjoy a little shade!

[halewich]

Absolutely love this idea. Having the full bucket of water prevents the birdbath from drying out after just a day or two in the hot sun and the movement of the water attracts birds to the birdbath. I am definitely going to do this next year. I may go with a small electric powered pump rather than a solar pump and I also may locate the bucket inside the garage and run the tubing through the wall just for aesthetics and to keep leaves and other debris out of the bucket.

[flatsville]

Hummingbirds like a little raused water splash in their bath. A nice flatish rock on one side allowing only about 1/4 - 1/2 in of water to cover it may attract some. They have such short little legs.

[valkyriesardo]

I assume the bucket could be buried up to its rim. The lid could be disguised with mulch or flagstone so one could access the pump. From what I'm reading, birds don't like splash but are attracted to moving water. For that reason I'm considering a bubbler type fountain head.

[koaasst]

i just hooked up a waterline from a faucet with a timer that comes on for 5 seconds once an hour. the nozzle is oriented in a way that blasts the water in a circular motion blowing debris out as well.

[Misswiskers]

Can the two hoses both be put through the side of the bucket, and put the lid on the bucket to keep the debris from getting into the bucket . Both bath and bucket will need to be kept clean anyway, but less often perhaps. Nice idea.

[catclark]

The only problem with solar powered fountains/pumps is that they obviously need the sun to work. It's not such a good idea to have a birdbath in the sun when you live in countries that experience hot summers, as you end up with warm water breeding all types of nasties :(

[maxmanners]

Great idea, I'm putting my bird bath next to my pond, so lots of water. I love the simple return excess water ide which will go to my pond. KISS thank you. Can anyone recommend a good quality solar pump?

[hendrikjbboss]

Thank you for sharing this. I have exactly the same idea but don't yet have the correct materials for me. Where I stay there is always wind, which is where the "reservoir" makes it viable. Thank you again.

[reasoningtruth]

LOVE IT!!! OUT OF THE BOX THINKING IS GREAT!!! ( When it works ). LOL This works great! I'm going to try and design the pump and makeup water container incorporated into the bath stand.

[Sahadi]

this is like what I'm about to do.

I'm not a fan of the "solar panel in the water so your bath is in the sun the whole day" method. My solar panel is separate from the pump, so the solar panel will be in the sun, and the actual bath will be in the shade. The bath will simply overflow back into the bucket, with some sort of easily-climbable barrier to catch leaves, and any bees that fall in.

Thanks for some ideas.

[emplp]

Any solution while not recirculating old water? I saw some fountain auto fills that use a bulb and no electricity afaik, fluid power

[Lt_Tragg]

great idea. i did something similar but the cheapy chinese solar unit burn out in a few week. i'm trying to think of something that runs of the household water supply.

[joemuscarella]

What is the name of the pump that you used? I love the drain idea - I now have my weekend project.

[historyrepeatscubed]

You say you used an enzyme to keep the water clean. Could you provide the name of the enzyme used, please? I presume it's not harmful to birds, etc, in any way, right? Cheers for the very clever idea.

[zgg]

Instead of using a bucket, can't you just clean the interior of the fountain stand, where you can add water with the pump ? This way the water do not get any debris from the environment. I believe the the fountain stand would accommodate a gallon of water.

[debbiekennell]

Can you advise which solar powered pump you are using?  I knew there had to be a way to do this.  Thanks so much for sharing your idea.

[dannyb]

how about you just turn the sprinkeler on and it fills to