Ducks weren't made to be fed bread

[James_Owen]

So I was wondering what the climate is here as regards feeding bread to wildfowl?

I ask because at the LNR I'm involved with we had a tragedy yesterday when one of the male Mute Swans attacked and drowned a rival. Now territorial disputes are always likely to happen in nature, but the high densities of wildfowl that feeding encourages surely does the birds no favours when it comes to divvying up who gets what space.
We put up posters asking they not be fed, explaining ducks, swans and geese can in most cases easily find enough for a natural healthy diet, but feeding them appears by many to be an inalienable right for visitors to the British countryside.

If I sit watching the bread-fattened ducks at my local reservoir in half an hour I'll see more violence and squabbling between the mallards and other species than I can remember in all my years of going to nature reserves. The unnatural abundance of food really seems to stir up aggression in those packed waters.
At the same site every year rangers dutifully fish out several severely ill cob Mutes, and the post mortems everytime point to botulism, a consequence of a diet chiefly made of (low in protein) bread.

There are other issues of course, rotting food causing disease in the water, and countless are the times I've seen rats making off with entire slices of white bread.

I'll always be in two minds on the issue because I realise that feeding the ducks on the local pond is a great way to get kids in touch with birds, but as a benefit it doesn't seem enough compared to damage it can do to wildfowl flocks. I'd hope we could begin to teach children the joy of observation, of watching, and that ill-considered human influences can be bad for birds, even when we have the best of intentions.

[Susie]

Again I think it is a matter of education. When people feed the birds bread they think they are helping, as well as it being an enjoyable experience.

I used to love to take my children to Windsor to feed the swans on the Thames, there were even shops there selling bread specifically to be fed to the swans.

I don't think that you will ever be able to stop people feeding the birds but perhaps if it became more widely known that bread was unsuitable for birds (in the same way as bread/milk has for hedgehogs) a pelleted food suitable for wildfowl might be substituted. On a better diet the birds might be better behaved - it is not just humans that get a sugar rush from junk food!

Thank you for your post James_Owen, it was well put and most thought provoking.

[Gill Catton]

I actually think it's an inherent need in humans to feed animals - it's presumably how we evolved to domesticate animals - it was our desire to feed them as much perhaps as any cunning- that brought the animals closer and made them tame........ and in turn what made us successful so through natural selection - those who liked to feed animals and had enough food to do so were more successful (because they had easy and reliable access to animals to provide them with meat and skins and things) and had more offspring. So, I think you'l struggle to stop this completely (though they seem to have had a small success at this in Bibury where they had similar problems - they had big signs everywhere) a shaky alternative is to provide grain - sell it, people would definately buy it as they do at WWT reserves. As regards the aggression - there will always be those over loaded with testosterone I suppose!!

[dbozkurt]

I lived in Carshalton where we have two large spring fed ponds which have had to have concrete bases since the water table dropped. In the summer months the scum, discolouration etc. is discusting from the bread. Every few years the ponds have to be emptied and dredged (water table permitting). The build up of scum can not also be healthy to both the waterfowl and the water life can it?

Debs

[glsammy]

A good question, thanks for posting it.
This is one subject that I keep changing my mind on. If people would only do it in moderation, I don't think there would be much if any problem, what I detest seeing is people arriving with carrier bags full with loaves of bread, all of which will be left around a pond or park, often feeding the birds right next to the sign telling them the dangers of overfeeding bread.
There again, to see a mother with a couple of very young children and the delight it gives them feeding the birds with just a few slices, how can you argue with that?

[Gill Catton]

I think it's the sheer number of birds rather than the type of food that pollutes the water - there's no crystal clear water at Slimbridge!! They actually had to build purpose built reedbeds to treat the water as it flows out of the reserve into the river as they were in danger of being in trouble for polluting the river with the waterfowl effluent.

[nightshade]

It is probably a combination of the two,too many birds brought into close proximity by too much food

[wildone]

I understand that a diet high in white bread is the cause of 'angel wing' in geese. The trouble is that waterfowl get so used to the bread that they turn up their noses/bills when offered corn as an alternative. I had some bird mix which consisted mainly of corn ( to get the house sparrows interested), but when I threw some down for the Swans and Ducks they just were not interested. Shortly after along came the white bread brigade and the birds flocked as if they had never eaten for the past week.

I have often thought that if Country Parks etc. would sell suitable food then maybe the wildlife would be a lot healthier. Also hopefully make a profit for the Country Parks.

[Susie]

Originally Posted by wildone

I have often thought that if Country Parks etc. would sell suitable food then maybe the wildlife would be a lot healthier. Also hopefully make a profit for the Country Parks.

That's a great idea for the parks where there is either a shop or warden on site all the time. I know that I would be quite happy to buy grain to feed the birds and if the park turns a bit of a profit on it then all the better.

I think a lot of the problem stems from ignorance; it never occured to me before that I could be harming the birds by feeding them bread and I am sure that a lot of the general public are the same.

[gaviston]

Originally Posted by Susie

Again I think it is a matter of education. When people feed the birds bread they think they are helping, as well as it being an enjoyable experience.

I used to love to take my children to Windsor to feed the swans on the Thames, there were even shops there selling bread specifically to be fed to the swans.

I don't think that you will ever be able to stop people feeding the birds but perhaps if it became more widely known that bread was unsuitable for birds (in the same way as bread/milk has for hedgehogs) a pelleted food suitable for wildfowl might be substituted. On a better diet the birds might be better behaved - it is not just humans that get a sugar rush from junk food!

Thank you for your post James_Owen, it was well put and most thought provoking.

Where I live there aren't too many ducks, swans or Coots. I think in London the only reason there are so many birds is because of so many tourists and pampered stupid people needlessly feeding them. All the birds flock there and gorge themselves. But London isn't and shouldn't be thought of as the norm for the entire country.
Wholemeal bread is good for you and birds can eat it too. White bread is gross for everyone if it's all they eat.