My DH makes concrete birdbaths for a living, and I often paint them with great success using ANY kind of paint. Spray paint is usually the most cost effective, and provides a good base coat. I use acrylic paints that can be found in craft stores for accents or highlighting. I also use clear spray paint to seal the paint. Hint...make sure the birdbath is very dry before painting. First wash it down, then let it dry. If it's raw concrete, there will be lime leaching and some manufacturers already paint the piece with a mixture of paint and cement to cover any pin holes or patch marks. You don't need to primer the piece...concrete is the easiest medium to paint on. Let the paint dry very well between coats, then apply at least 4 coats of clear spray paint as the sealer, particularly in the bowl. Most spray paints today are non-toxic. They're not going to leach anything bad. Frankly, in my opinion, I've seen birds bathing in puddles on the street that have a shimmer of motor oil in them. I've never seen any adverse reactions to the spray paint I use. Most commercial manufacturers use these same types of materials to paint their pieces. Patio paint is expensive and you will need a lot. Krylon or other premium spray paints are recommended. Don't use ANYTHING that is petroleum or oil based! (Like Thompsons Water Seal).

I do like it. do you really want birds pooping in it though? LOL! I think I would fill it with marbles, looks kinda deep for birds.But I would like it just with marbles and sunlight sparkling through. NICE

I also have a mockingbird that feeds at the mealworm feeder, but what my blues do is wait in the branches above until the mockingbird leaves, then they feed. It took my blues awhile to feed at the feeder, but now they are there a lot. The feeder is hanging on a tree branch near a nesting box, so I will probably have to move it when they start nesting, so that it doesn't attract other birds near the nesting box.

Readers Digest Book of North American Birds; ISBN 0895773511; 1990. A Fufous-sided Towhee: Pipilo erythrophthalmus: "Scratching about with one foot at a time, like barnyard poultry, rufous-sided towhees gather their food from the very bosom of the earth. It is little wonder, then, that these active birds used to be called ground robins, especially since their well-hidden nests of stems and leaves are nestled so close to the ground. Today they are named towhees because that is the sound most people hear in their song. But they were once known as chewinks, from the call they make when alarmed. In some parts of the West that call is phonetically transcribed as shrenk, while in others it sounds more like the meowing of catbirds. In sections of the Southeast they unquestionably call Louise! And although their song is translated into English in most parts of the country as "chip towhee" or "drink your tea," the birds seem to drawl it in the South, and are apt to sing chip chup chup zeeeeeee, or just a buzzy zeeeeee, in the West. Their visual field marks too are almost as varied as their vocal ones. Rusous-sided towhees in Florida have white eyes instead of red ones, and those in the West have two white wing bars plus numerous white spots on their wings and backs. But no matter where they live, all rufous-sided towhees come flying in low to the ground with the side patches in their tails looking like white chiffon streamers trailing dramatically behind them."