Customer Reviews

API 970 20-Inch Diameter Heated Bird Bath with Metal Stand

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this birdbath from another source because I needed it immediately during the coldest part of last winter. I had purchased previously this item from Amazon and it was both VERY effective and inexpensive:
http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovators-Economical-B-9-44-Watt/dp/B000793M68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1285959095&sr=8-1
However, this only keeps its own diameter ice-free in the birdbath and I wanted the entire bath to remain liquid. Also, I had let a few birdbaths accidentally freeze in past years and have lost their basins to cracking.
It is CRUCIAL to me to get birdbaths (for either warm or cold months) that have non-tip basins (or "locking top" basins, as they're sometimes called) because I have a yard full of wild critters and a colony of feral cats and they like to drink out of the birdbath despite having heated water bowls. I went to my local Agway and this birdbath was about $15 to $20 more expensive than Amazon's price but I was able to remove it from the box and make sure the basin fits well into the circular "cradle". I used this all last winter and it works just great.

One reviewer noted that the stand is wobbly. That's somewhat true, but I think it has to be so that it doesn't needlessly stress the stand. The bath comes with stakes to secure the legs. I use these. Even though I have an area of flat cement I could put the bath on, I purposely put it on the grassy area beside and secure the legs with the included stakes. When it gets cold enough, the ground freezes around the stakes. There is still some wobble to the stand but I just hold it when I refill it so it doesn't move too much and get loose from the ground. I piled three decorative bricks next to the bath so that the feral cats and wild critters can use them as steps to just lean on the basin and drink (prior to this, they used to jump onto the basin and stand on it to drink). All of the animals learned very quickly and use this method now.

With regard to the reviewer who noted that no birds use the bath: I noticed this also at first, but it only lasted a few days. I keep my bath about 20 ft from my bird feeders and it's a popular spot now. I do notice that it's chock full of birds at certain times of the day, while at others it seems ignored. I think that perhaps the reviewer might not be noticing when it's being used? I find seeds, feathers, and sand at the bottom of mine each morning, as well as a lot of water knocked out of it so it's being well used.

I heartily recommend this bath! If it's an option here, I will try to post a few photos that I took with this review to show the underside and perhaps more detail. I hope it will help others make their purchase decision.

I am very satisfied with the birdbath as it was easy to assemble and attracts a lot of birds even in our below freezing weather.

If looking for a Winter bird bath, this is the best!
We used to use bird bath heaters, they never worked well in
cold weather, only keep a small hole in the water open.
This Bath keeps all the water free, no matter how cold it
gets! (We are in Michigan).
The only negative we have found is the stand, It is kind of cheap. We just used u hooks pushed in the ground to keep secure. You can always easily attach to deck railing.
For keeping the Birds happy, this bath is great!

The birds are overjoyed with my "bird-spa" birthday present so I have no choice but to be overjoyed with it as well!

I do wish I hadn't splurged on the very flimsy stand however. I am not using it for that very reason.

I put the bird spa on a child-sized wrought iron table that I had in the yarden.

The stand will not be a waste of money however - I plan on reinforcing the flimsy stand with twig-art and it will live long & prosper as a repurposed piece of garden art.

I truly wish I had not spent the extra $ on the bird-spa with stand and just purchased the bird-spa - I could have used that money for more bird seed!

The API 970 20 inch birdbath has been a giant hit with the birds. The water does need to be changed almost daily because the patrons don't exercise proper spa sanitary habits. It's January and the water doesn't freeze, and there are often three or four birds enjoying the water. My one problem so far has been some varmint tipping it over at night, but I put some bricks on the legs and that seems to have cured the problem. I'll install it more permanently in the spring.

Because I live in a high-wind area, I was nervous about purchasing this lightweight heated bird bath; after all, we chain our grill to our deck railing because a few years ago our old propane grill was blown all the way across the deck, down the stairs, and into the driveway. However, I didn't want to leave the birds without water when I brought my fountain in for the winter. I was relieved -- and completely sold on this bath -- when it recently weathered a day with winds gusting to 65 mph without moving an inch. Even better, the water inside the bath has not frozen once, not even around the edges.

The bowl is a fairly light-weight, textured plastic that allows birds to grip the sides (and even the bottom) without slipping. The stand is metal, and not very heavy, either, although it seems sturdy enough. The water is never warm, only above freezing, so the birds drink from it readily. (I placed it in the same spot as the fountain, and birds were drinking from it within the hour.) I have scattered a few stones on the bottom to give birds a feel for how deep the water is and for them to land on; they use both the edges and the rocks. The bowl won't tip out of the stand -- and this is both good and bad: an animal drinking out of it is unlikely to tip it over, but it also makes it difficult to empty dirty water. Because of the dry winter air and the heat, the water tends to evaporate more quickly than I expected. But even when I forget to fill it with water, the birds use it. I'm going to share a photo in the customer image section of two mourning doves in the empty bath, warming their feet and bottoms on a day with wind chills in the teens. I guess the surface is just warm enough to feel good.

While this isn't the most attractive bird bath, it does its job, and the birds love it. What more could I ask?

-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann

This heated bird bath is awesome. It was super easy to put together and works like a dream. Now the birds can drink water all year long!!

Even in our below zero weather, it kept the ice clear. The stand works well, easy to level and sturdy. The enclosed U clips make sure the squirrels do not tip it over. The stand was well made and easy to assemble.

This bird bath is nearly ideal. The birds really like the depth and the claw-friendly rim. The heater works well even in sub-zero Iowa temperatures- enough that I set it on a timer to shut down from dusk till pre-dawn. My only quibble is about the stand. The stand is just barely sturdy enough to stay upright. It is impossible to keep the water level consistent. But it does stay upright, so I judge it to be 'adequate' for the job. I still rate the bird bath a 5-star product!

I've used immersion-type heaters in the past, which never worked that well. So, it's really nice to finally have a bath where the heater is built-in.

What I want to advise other people is this: I had looked at this birdbath in catalogs for years, thinking that it was way too deep for birds to use. I didn't realize that the heater takes up much of the bowl depth, and that the birdbath itself is nice & shallow, the way the birds like it.

I don't understand the negative reviews for the stand; it feels sturdy to me. You need to make sure to use the included ground supports that come with the stand.

Very happy with this bath.