Puddles

A puddle is a small accumulation of liquid, usually water, on a surface. It can form either by pooling in a depression on the surface, or by surface tension upon a flat surface.

A puddle is generally shallow enough to walk through, and too small to support a boat or raft. Puddles can be a source of fascination for children. Small wildlife may be attracted to puddles.

Puddles in natural landscapes and habitats, when not resulting from precipitation, can indicate the presence of a seep or spring. They can provide essential moisture for small wildlife, such as birds and insects. Many butterfly (Lepidoptera) species need puddles for mud-puddling to obtain nutrients such as salts and amino acids.

Swallows use the damp loam which gathers in puddles as a form of cement to help to build their nests. The reduction in the number of puddles in the countryside due to intensive farming, urban sprawl, and climate change is partially the cause of a decrease in the swallow population. Small seasonal riparian plants, grasses, and wildflowers germinate with the ephemeral "head start" of moisture.

Wildlife can use puddles as a drinking source, for bathing (e.g. birds), or in the case of some smaller forms such as tadpoles or mosquito larvae, an entire habitat. Raised constructed puddles, bird baths, are a part of domestic and wildlife gardens as a garden ornament and "micro-habitat" restoration. In a behaviour known as puddling, butterflies and some other insects, but particularly male butterflies, are known to seek out the damp mud they can find around the edge of puddles.

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Wikipedia