WEST SEATTLE WEATHER: One easy way to keep birds from being frozen out of water access

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather | Wildlife

Thanks to Jon Anderson for texting that photo. It’s a reminder that you need to help ensure these subfreezing nights don’t leave birds thirsty. During a previous year’s similar cold snap, local naturalist Ann Anderson gave this advice: “Simply pour hot water into your frozen bird bath. This quickly loosens the ice, making it easy to pop right out. Then refill it with warm water. It’s that easy, and will make a huge difference to cold, thirsty wildlife.” That’s similar to what Jon told us he does: “I break it off every morning and put new water in. This morning a squirrel was standing on the ice.”

SW February 12, 2025 (2:50 pm)

I’ve been doing this. The birds will thank you :)

Linda February 12, 2025 (3:54 pm)

I’ve been dumping my bird bath every night then putting hot-ish water out around 8 a.m. so it can hopefully stay thawed until the temps warm above freezing. One thought: some of the glass birdbaths may break if hot water is poured in them, my mom lost hers that way.

Bbron February 12, 2025 (3:56 pm)

Love this robin-y time of year. Make sure to clean the baths often as well!

KT February 12, 2025 (4:41 pm)

Thanks for reminder. The most amusing thing I have seen lately were crows landing and sliding on the ice at Hicks Lake in Burien. Hysterical to watch and as they kept doing it, looked like they were enjoying it quite a bit.

Chris February 12, 2025 (5:39 pm)

We have a heated bird bath deal we plug in when cold weather hits. It is not big, however big enough birds can get some unfrozen water. They do use it.

sbre February 12, 2025 (5:54 pm)

Like Chris’, my birdbath is also heated and gets plugged-in at night when needed.

Nature lover February 12, 2025 (8:16 pm)

I had so many birds coming to my birdbath this morning they were so thirsty. I also poured hot water on my frozen birdbathThank you for publishing this I’ve also been supplementing their diet with hanging suet and throwing raw sunflower seeds on the frozen ground it’s hard for them to forage for food since the ground is frozen I recently started feeding the hummingbirds and they are bringing me tremendous joy. They need our help right now with the cold weather.

Lori February 12, 2025 (9:35 pm)

Great reminders! You can also bring in your hummingbird feeders and smaller bird baths at night, and put them back outside in the early morning hours.