Best Paint Colors For Birdbaths: A Starter Guide For Newbies!

Painting your bird bath may seem like an easy task, but we often have the simplest of questions: What is the best color to paint a bird bath?

So I hit up a few forums and other more experienced backyard birders for answers.

Here’s what I found:

Any bright or primary colors are the best colors to paint bird baths. These colors include red and pink to attract hummingbirds, orange to attract orioles, blue to attract bluejays, and yellow to attract goldfinches. Drab camouflage colors like green can attract skittish birds. However, white scares birds away.

Though there is no hard and fast rule as to which color is the absolute best, but I’ll be taking you through the selection process in this article. Read on to find out more!

Different Colors To Attract Different Birds

“The best way to attract birds to your home is to think like a bird”

Margaret Brittingham, Associate Professor of Wildlife Resources

No, I’m not telling you to be a bird brain! I’m telling you to simply put yourselves in their shoes (or feathers)! By thinking like birds, we can attract them.

Let me explain why: Birds tend to be attracted to their own natural plumage! For example, a bluejay would be attracted to a bird bath painted in blue!

Although this may not always be the case.

While some birds are drawn to their own plumage color, some birds may be attracted to colors that are similar to their food sources.

For example, hummingbirds love the colors red and pink because they look like the plants that they get their nectar from: like beebalms (monarda)!

What Color Should A Birdbath Be?

To make things easy, I summarized the best colors for attracting different bird species in the table below for your reference:

Bird Bath Color	Bird Species Attracted	Reason	Amazon Link
Red and pink	Hummingbirds	Red and pink look like their food sources (beebalms, petunias)	Link (red) Link (pink)
Orange	Orioles (Baltimore, bullock’s, Altamira)	Attracted to their plumage color: orange	Link
Blue	Bluejays, bluebirds	Attracted to their own plumage color: blue	Link
Yellow	Goldfinches, warblers, hummingbirds	Attracted to their own plumage color: yellow	Link
Camouflage colors (brown, green, grey)	Skittish species (thrushes, ground feeders, doves)	Camouflaged patterns help skittish bird species feel safe	Link (green)
White	NONE	Birds interpret white as danger or aggression	–

Acrylic paint is suitable and safe for use on the insides of the water basin on your bird bath, as well as the other parts of the bird bath.

Recommended Acrylic Paint: Blickrylic Student Acrylics Basic Color Set, 6 bottles, 16oz

This particular set comes in a pack of 6 bottles at 16 oz each with lots of bright colors like Blue, Chrome Yellow, Fire Red, Phthalo Green, Mars Black, and Titanium White.

With all the primary colors included, it’s great for attracting bluebirds, goldfinches, cardinals, and many other birds!

What I like the most about it is that it’s no-frills and really affordable!

I’ll leave a link to the set here if you want to pick a good acrylic paint set!

If you need a list of all the items needed for painting your bird bath, with steps included, check out this article where I write everything about it in detail!

Safe Paint For Bird Baths: A Starter Guide (Read THIS First!)

Your bird bath might just look as beautiful as this!

BUT! Before you purchase your desired color of paint, you’ll also need to consider the material of the bird bath you’re painting on.

Not just any paint will stick on well to any material. So I wrote a little section on this in another article here!

How Birds See Color

Now that you know which colors you can use to paint your bird bath, you may be curious as to how birds see color! Actually, you may be surprised that birds have better vision than we humans do!

Human retinas have 3 kinds of cells in our eye called cone cells that receive red, blue, and green light, which makes us trichromatic.

Birds have 4 cone cells that can perceive red, blue, green, and ultraviolet light, which makes them tetrachromatic.

On top of seeing UV light, they can actually have a higher visual acuity than humans. This means that birds can differentiate subtle differences between two very similar-looking colors.

This ability can perhaps help birds spot camouflaged prey, or simply spot other food sources more easily from the foliage.

Given that birds can perceive such small differences in color, it’s no wonder that birds are particular about which bird bath they want to bathe in!

How Often You Should Change Bird Bath Water [ANSWERED!]

Does The Color Of A Birdbath Matter?

The color of a birdbath does matter. Birdbaths with brighter and primary colors can attract more birds as they can see it from far away. Birds are generally attracted to birdbaths with the same plumage as them. However, white-colored birdbaths scare birds away as they commonly associate it with danger.

What Kind of Paint Should You Use To Paint Bird Baths?

So now you know the right colors to paint your birdbath! But… there’s a question that still lingers.

What kinds of paint can you actually use? Are there any safe paints you can use?

Here’s the answer:

Oil-based, latex, or acrylic exterior paint is safe for painting birdbaths. Latex and acrylic paints are safe for use on the insides of the basin once they are dried up, but not oil-based paint. Oil-based paint is suitable for use on other parts of the birdbath. All paint must be dry before applying a new coat.

I wrote a complete starter guide of safe paints you can use to color your birdbath. It includes a really handy table, so please go check it out so you don’t make any crucial mistakes along the way!

I also wrote a COMPLETE guide on which non-toxic safe sealants to use on bird baths here! I included some steps on how to DIY too! Check it out here:

Safe Sealants for Bird Baths: 3 Things To Know (Read FIRST!)

OH! By the way, if you’d like to learn how to paint your birdhouses safely, I wrote a complete guide for it! Check out the safe paint for birdhouses article here.

Safe Paint For Birdhouses: A Starter Guide! (Read THIS First!)

What Color Should The Bottom Of A Bird Bath Be?

The bottom basin of a bird bath should be of a light color to spot dirt build-up more easily in the long term. Examples of common colors of bird bath basins include beige, grey, and light green. However, do not use black-colored bird bath basins as it makes it hard to spot dirt.

How Deep Should A Bird Bath Be? [ANSWERED! + FAQs]

Do Bright Colors Scare Birds?

Bright colors do not scare birds. Instead, birds are attracted to bright colors because they are similar to the bright colors of flowers. Bright colors like red, pink, orange, and yellow can be attractive to birds if it is the same color as their plumage. However, birds tend to be scared of the color white.

What Color Bird Bath Attracts The Most Birds?

Bird baths that have bright and primary colors attract the most birds. Birds are easily attracted to bright-colored bird baths because they either resemble their plumage color or the bright colors of flowers they frequent. White-colored bird baths attract the least birds because it scares them away.

Will Birds Use A White Bird Bath?

Birds are unlikely to use a white bird bath. Birds perceive white as a color of threat and will be scared away by it.

Ideas For Painting Bird Baths

If you’re already rearing to go paint your bird bath, hold on a minute!

I did some digging on Pinterest for you for some paint inspiration! Let me share with you some interesting paint ideas for beautifully colored bird baths to start with. I categorized them by their color for your easy reference!

Red Paint

Blue Paint

Yellow Paint

Brown/Orange Paint

Multi-Colored Paint

Creative Paint

Final Thoughts

Okay so you now know all the best colors you can use to paint your bird bath and which color attracts which type of bird species.

You also learned a little about how bird color vision works, saw some interesting paint ideas, and safe paints you can use.

I hope that this article has been used and that you’ve learned a thing or two from reading this!

Thanks for reading and happy birding!