the.com/birdbath
A spa for birds that doubles as a mosquito nursery you didn't ask for.
means A shallow basin, usually set on a pedestal in a garden, that holds water for birds to drink from and bathe in.
from Straightforward compound of 'bird' and 'bath' — no hidden story here. It emerged in English once ornamental gardening became a hobby worth having tools for, sometime in the 1800s, when people started installing decorative basins specifically so birds would visit and splash. The word just describes exactly what it is, which is rarer in etymology than you'd think.
- depth rule
- keep it under 3 inches or birds avoid it
- mosquito risk
- standing water breeds larvae within a week
- fix
- change water every 2-3 days
- bonus
- moving water attracts way more birds than still