Water Wiggler - Protecting Your Bird Bath from Mosquitoes and More

One thing that has become a more common concern when we put a bird bath in the yard is the possibility of breeding mosquitoes in the standing water. We take a look at the Water Wiggler and some other choices for keeping your yard safe along with the side benefits of moving water.

First, if we are conscientious about our bird bath care, we would be changing the water daily, and any issues about breeding mosquitoes would be moot. But the fact is that most of us just don’t get around to changing bird bath water daily, or even weekly, but wait for the occasional rainstorm to help replenish the water supply in the bird bath. The Water Wiggler is a product for the rest of us that aren’t going to be there daily changing the water, but have gotten the scare about mosquito borne diseases like West Nile virus.




The Water Wiggler is a simple device that is self contained and battery operated. It simply sits in the middle of your bird bath, and runs continuously and sets up small waves or vibrations in the water. Some folks contend that the moving water is in itself attractive to birds, and in general moving water will attract more birds than stagnant water. But the vibrations in the water will usually be enough to keep mosquitoes from breeding.

The Water Wiggler does take up the center of the bath, so its not really useful for very small bird baths. There is also a model that has music that plays, which is nice for the humans around but it’s not clear what that does for the bird population in your yard. The Wiggler runs off 2 D cells, and can last for up to 2 months. They have optional ceramic covers that both offer additional protection from UV light and bird droppings, in addition to a choice of colors. Some folks claim that for moderately cold temperatures the vibrations can keep the bird bath water from freezing, espcially if it’s combined with a bird bath heater.

The units are made by Allied Precision, and you can find a good price on one at Duncraft.