During the drought this year, to assist the various animals that make our yard their home, I placed a bird bath at the bottom of our hill, in the wooded part of the yard. To learn what animals were using the bird bath, I placed a trail cam on a nearby tree to record the activity at the bird bath. Below are some of images recorded by the trail cam.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Robins were frequent visitors to the bird bath. Sometimes, families of 3-4 robins would take turns bathing in the bird bath.
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
Prior to seeing the following image, I had not seen a Blue Jay bathe in a bird bath despite having multiple bird baths for years.
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
American goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
After I saw the following picture, I knew why I occasionally found partially consumed animal carcasses in the bird bath. Crows were using it to clean their food.
Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus)
A Hairy Woodpecker would frequently visit nearby trees but never visited the bird bath.
Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
One apparently tired Gray Squirrel rested on the bird bath.
American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
Mouse
The bird bath even had visitors at night. The camera recorded several images of mice visiting the bird bath at night.
Raccoon (Procyon lotor)
A pair of raccoons were recorded walking past the bird bath but they apparently had no interest in it.
