Don't Feed Waterfowl Bread Please!

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With the last bits of summer around and fall around the corner, I thought it was time to talk again about feeding waterfowl bread. The temptation when you're talking a walk around a pond is to feed the ducks, geese and swans from a loaf of bread or maybe some popcorn. Please don't do that! * Bread doesn't have much nutritional value and will fill the birds' stomachs up so that they don't forage for the foods they normally would eat. This can lead to malnutrition. * Uneaten bread in the water can cause a build-up of bad nutrients which will lead to more algae growing around water, more disease and more pests such as rats. * Feeding bread contributes to water pollution. * Feeding bread can fatten the waterfowl, making it harder for them to fly and avoid predators. * It can cause angel wing which causes a wing joint to twist and be deformed. Even just a few days of eating bread can cause irreparable damage and make the bird unable to fly. What SHOULD you feed ducks, geese and swans? * Non-processed foods such as veggies, whole grains, berries, seeds, cracked corn or duck feed pellets. I saw some online that are made to float. Cut up salad greens, vegetable peels, grapes (cut into small pieces...waterfowl don't have teeth) are also good options. A bag of frozen peas, corn niblets and carrot pieces is a good solution. * If what you choose does not float, it's a good idea to feed the waterfowl on the shore so as not to pollute the water. * If you see a bird in distress or having trouble moving around, please contact your local wildlife specialist. I hope this information is helpful to you. Photo Credit: Pixabay