Bird Bath Turns Red

[Biccylova]

My concrete birdbath keeps turning blood red, I scrub it out and refill it but within a few days its started to turn red again, whats going on and what can I do about it please.

[237SJ]

Water can turn red after creatures with fleas (as all birds carry) have washed/been washed in it.

[gness]

Mine too, Biccy......and have for years.....I put it down to something that comes in the rain......I hate the way they look.....but I've not found a remedy.......x

[Togo]

You may have red algae (Rhodophyta), rinse and refill the birdbath daily, using a strong water jet to loosen and remove algae if needed. You may also leave the unfilled birdbath in the sun until the algae dries out.

[gingejbee]

Is it the water that's turning red or the surface of the (underwater) concrete? I suspect it may be red algae.

[Prudie]

That has always happened to mine and it's the water not the surface of the bird bath. Even our loo water will be orangey if not used for a few days. I have always put it down to the mineral content in my area.

[ladybirder]

I keep one of those little brushes used for washing up especially to scrub the BB out every couple of days when I fill it with rainwater from the butt.

[Togo]

You can get a biodegradable ball to put in ponds and water features but would probably be better with a sachet of specialist enzymes (from garden centres or online) or specialized bird bath cleaners that come in the form of cleansers or powders. They are one way to clean out your bird bath and keep it algae free.

[webbo3]

is it made of concrete? probably down to the make up of the concrete, I use to work in a garden centre and all of our concrete birdbaths turned red when they had water in them for a while.

I think its a combination of the type of water and chemicals in the concrete.

Glazed birdbaths never had this problem but concrete ones did.


Dave.

[Biccylova]

Thanks everyone, I suppose it must be an algae then, seems its not as uncommon as I thought, the birds don't seem to mind, so I reckon I'll just have to keep scrubbing it, as long as its not harmful.

[RobNorth]

After you clean it leave it empty to let the Sun bleach it - this kills off all the nasties. If done regularly it keeps it clean.

[Tilly2]

I have five bird baths in my garden. The concrete one goes red. The metal one doesn't, neither do the man made material ones. It must be the concrete.

[Chipchopper]

Almost certainly algae, in my opinion, concrete and higher than usual levels of sunlight seem ideal conditions for this to proliferate.

My bird bath is also concrete (home made), lined with pebbles and can look messy at times, what I do to combat this, is give it a real hard blast with the hose as regularly as possible, as the wood pigeons often use it as a latrine, as well as for bathing.

[Biccylova]

Yes chipchopper I have noticed that about pigeons, drink, bathe, crap, not always in that order though sorry to say.