I have had this birdbath for several years, & yes, it turned rusty too. The birds are't slowed down or bothered by that at all. I would ignore it & enjoy the birds bathing.

1. What is the material of the birdbath? Cast iron?

2. Rust, (iron oxide) is not soluble in water.

3. Rust is not toxic in small quantities.

4. If you paint the birdbath, as long as you replace the water regularly, any chemical leached from the paint would be minor.

5. If you donâÂÂt want to paint and want to prevent further rusting, use zinc or magnesium as anodic sacrificial metal.

dcarch

Avianweb.com says rust is extremely toxic to birds. They give several ideas of how to get rid of rust. Besides its toxicity, I agree that a rusty fixture might be a bit of an eyesore.

Check out the site for some ideas on how to get rid of rust.

Lori

Well harmful of not, I think rusty stuff is ugly!!....except for certain instances where is intentional, like in certain sculpture and buildings made from cor-10 steel, designed to rust and then stabilize, rather that other items that just have the rusty metal eat away at the integrity of the metal.
I would scrub all the rust you can with a wire brush, then use an acid like Naval Jelly to really get rid of the stuff and paint with a rust preventing paint, like Rusteolum.
But you will have to be vigilant, the rust can return if there is the least chip or scratch in the protective coating, and you will have to repeat your procedure.
The thing about rust....you think it's gone, and it returns and eventually will completely destroy what it eats at.
I gave up and bought a stoneware birdbath....no more rusty stuff!

Cast iron is somewhat rust resistant. ThatâÂÂs why cast iron pipe are used extensively for water pipes, sewer pipes, outdoor furniture, and exterior building decorative fenestrations.

Gun-blue finish gives some rust protection on iron without painting.

Cor-Ten as well as many other so-called weathering steel is not rust proof. They are alloyed to be rust resistant. All weathering steel construction must provide proper drainage. Ponding of water will destroy weathering steel just the same.

Rusting is a problem for iron because it behaves the same way as icing that it expands a great deal when it occurs, thus allowing further damage to penetrate, therefore all rust proofing finishes must be 100%.

dcarch

I am not sure what the metal is on the birdbath. It is weighty, but not weighty like heavy cast iron. But then again, it hasn't blown over, and that is saying a lot where I live (Consider that we have to face our huge weber grill with the wind instead of blocking the wind as it has been blown over before.) I don't know if the rust is soluable, but when I dump the water, lots of rust residue pours out, almost like paint in thickness and cloudiness.

For now, I will do my best to ignore the ugly rusty stuff. In a few weeks, I will put it in the garage anyway. Rust will be out of sight, out of mind. In the spring I will try to try to get rid of the rusty area with paint, but I think it will keep coming back.