It is 2:00 in the afternoon and the birds must be hot.  From the coolness of 
my house (thermostat set at 78), I watched one of the bird baths attract a 
House Sparrow, Carolina Wren, newly fledged Mockingbird and an immature male 
Orchard Oriole.  They sat on the lip of the container and eventually took a 
dip.  The Mockingbird sat on the lip and fluttered its feathers like it was 
taking a bath, but it wasn't in the water.  It eventually got the hang of it 
and did step into the water.  The Orchard Oriole really got soaked and 
struggled to fly to a nearby branch to preen and dry out.  After this 
foursome left, the Mourning Dove that was looking for seed around the bird 
bath stepped into the water and preened for nearly 5 minutes.  It did not 
get very wet ... it would just dip its head under every now and then and it 
really fluffed out its feathers.  When it was done, it just walked out and 
continued looking for food.
Neat stuff.
Jim Wilson
Queenstown