Do You Feed The Ducks?

[Marky_Mark]

swans are greedy, we had a family of 8 near the mooring ( mum, dad and 6 little'uns ) all they did was eat eat eat

 

ducks seem to have a bit then move on

[Jerra]

The discussion about what to feed is interesting BUT if Angel Wing is the result of over feeding as Janet Kear, (who is the Senior Scientific Officer of The Wildlife Trust in Great Britain) suggests then it is the over feeding i.e. all of us feeding the waterfowl, that is the problem.

[Phil Ambrose]

I don't think there can be very many of us that have not at sometime in our childhood been taken down to the canal, river or lake and been handed a bag with some old crusts in to feed the ducks with. A simple pleasure enjoyed by generations of children. Most boaters I know will still think nothing of throwing their stale bread out of the hatch to feed the ducks and many of them will buy bread specially for the purpose.

A couple of years ago someone told me that bread is not good for birds. At the time the conversation was about garden birds but I did a bit of googling and decided that I would only occasionaly put bead out for birds in my garden, maybe in times of sever weather when they need all the food they can get to survive. Although in truth I am still uneasy about whether feeding them bread in hard weather might actually hasten their demise.

Over the last few years I have seen a few wildfowl, often Canada Geese but also other wildfowl, including Mallards which have a wing hanging down at an odd angle and I have presumed the bird had broken it's wing. A few weeks back I saw such a bird and commented on it to a chap on the towpath and he told me it was a deformity of the birds wing caused by eating too much bread when it was young. I have just been reading up on it and it appears it is called "Angel Wing" and is caused by a poor diet fed to young birds, one of the biggest culprits being white bread.

 

I am somewhat surprised that there has not been more publicity about the potential harm being done to our bird population in this way. I know there will always be chidren by the waterside throwing in bread but a lot of people, if they are aware of these things will stop the practice, and I especially think a lot of boaters might think twice about throwing their bread scraps out of the hatch in future.

I usually have some floating duck pellets on board to feed ducks with. They are not cheap and so I tend to use them sparingly but find a great deal of pleasure from throwing a few pellets to the ducks during the harsh winter months when natural food can be harder for them to source. Perhaps if a few more boaters did the same then a few more places would stock the pellets and they would be priced a little more competativley?

 

I just thought I would share this because I suspect there are a lot of people, like me, who were unaware of this condition so by spreading the word it might mean a few less people throw their white bread to the ducks

 

I would beg to differ, Angel Wing is in fact a genetic condition caused by in-breeding, this is proven by colonies of isolated birds with a small gene pool, at one time my wife and I bred Budgies and Cockies which we sold in large quantities in Belgium and we have learnt a thing or two about breeding birds.

 

Phil

[cheshire~rose]

After much experimenting over the years, I have discovered that one of the favourite food for Blackbirds, thrushes, Redwing and Fieldfare is dried fruit.

 

I buy apples for the blackbirds who visit the garden, I am starting to understand what varieties they prefer too! At present they get through around an apple a day

[Jerra]

I would beg to differ, Angel Wing is in fact a genetic condition caused by in-breeding, this is proven by colonies of isolated birds with a small gene pool, at one time my wife and I bred Budgies and Cockies which we sold in large quantities in Belgium and we have learnt a thing or two about breeding birds.

 

Phil

 

Having grown up with a Dad who bred Budgies and had contact with poultry for a great part of my working life I was always under the impression that this was the case. However I have noticed recently that researchers are not so sure. Particularly as I mentioned earlier Janet Kear.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Jerra

[Tam & Di]

Personnally, I think we should leave them alone. Apart from when water is frozen, in winter.

 

.. or when on the plate with a nice orange sauce .

[blackrose]

I don't feed wild animals.

[Wanted]

I would beg to differ, Angel Wing is in fact a genetic condition caused by in-breeding,

 

Phil

which would explain the unusually high cases in Brentford

[Athy]

One poster has mentioned not giving mouldy bread to birds. Why not? The mould is penicillin, which is beneficial to health, but which is not appetising for humans.At our last house, we had a gang of starlings which used to visit our bird tray, and the nice blue bits seemed to be their favourite.

No one has yet mentioned meat scraps. We don't eat the fat off meat and tend to cut it up small and put it on the bird tray (or throw it on the water if we're on the boat). It is gratefully received by various species. Is it harmful to them?

Finally, sparrows will eat just about anything. They have learned to use our hanging bird feeders and devour the seeds at a rate of knots, much to the dismay of blue- and great-tits which can't get a beak in edgeways. But they will equally happily demolish the bread leftovers (usually multigrain) on the bird tray. It took a while to accustom them to surplus pasta, but now they will eat that too!

[BruceinSanity]

The sparrows have developed a taste for nuts! I really had not got a clue that Sparrows enjoyed nuts so much!

 

 

Try letting them log on to NBW, that should satisfy their appetite for nuts…

 

[blackrose]

Personnally, I think we should leave them alone.

 

I agree. I think the (over)feeding of wild waterfowl has probably got a lot more to do with the needs of people who wish to have some interaction with animals than the needs of the birds themselves.

 

Of course, with everyone chucking bread in the water the birds tend to overpopulate and then there's not enough natural food to go around for them to forage. So they need extra food, and the overfeeding/overpopulation cycle goes on...

 

In some places I think feeding should be banned. In summer at Windsor there's so much bread floating in the water it's like a soup, with bread floating everywhere and the tourists chucking in more and more food... and there are so many swans, geese and ducks it's ridiculous.

[carlt]

i get sacks of floating duck food, About £8-9 for a 15kg bag, lasts ages at least 6 months

 

Flippin'eck!

 

It was tuppence a bag, last I heard.

[Athy]

On the other hand, birds can and do starve to death in harsh winter conditions. Providing food and, especially, water for them when the ground is frozen can surely do no harm and will probably do a lot of good.

 

I wonder if the modern craze for recycling has led us to throw more food in the direction of ducks, in the belief that throwing it into a duck is better than throwing it into a dustbin.

[carlt]

On the other hand, birds can and do starve to death in harsh winter conditions.

This used to be called "Nature".

[RLWP]

This used to be called "Nature".

 

'Red in tooth and claw' doesn't seem to include ducks

 

Richard

[cheshire~rose]

I agree that feeding ducks or any wild birds can cause problems in it's own right. When out and about on the canal I usually only offer duck food during harsh weather.

 

The floating pellets I use are a little too big for new born mallard chicks to consume and so I have been known to throw a few towards "Mum" who, once she realises her offspring are not going to eat them, will gobble them up.

 

A couple of years ago when we were frozen in on the boat over Christmas we were treated to a wonderful array of birds coming down to the ice to feed on seed we threw onto the surface for them.

 

The funniest thing was just how small a wagtails "territory" can become when food is scarce. We had two of them, one would feed from seed at the bow and the other from food at the stern and occasionally is one or the other got too close to the middle of the boat they would have an argument about it then retire to their respective ends of the boat.

[ditchcrawler]

On the other hand, birds can and do starve to death in harsh winter conditions. Providing food and, especially, water for them when the ground is frozen can surely do no harm and will probably do a lot of good.

 

I wonder if the modern craze for recycling has led us to throw more food in the direction of ducks, in the belief that throwing it into a duck is better than throwing it into a dustbin.

When we were in Northampton people were buying loves of bread for kids to watch them feeding the ducks.

[Keeping Up]

At t he marina shop near Hinckley last month, there was just one loaf of bread. Pingu wanted it, for us to eat. Another woman in the shop wanted it, to throw to the ducks. Pingu won by telling the woman that if she threw it to the ducks she'd be going with it

[Athy]

What, at about £1.20 a loaf? The recession hasn't reached Northampton yet, then.

[c c]

OK Here goes - (takes deep breath).

We started selling packets of Duck&Swan Food to the public some time ago as a healthy alternative to the bread I see thrown in the canal in vast quantities every day. As a chef, I devised a healthy diet and then found a firm who was manufacturing a similar food.

I offered it as a countrywide fundraising idea to The C&RT who turned it down as we weren't allowed to use their logo because that would make them responsible for the scheme and they didn't have the volunteers to collect the money from outlets. This is the mockup we proposed (please ignore the logo which we do not use).

This is a poster we put on the towing path opposite our CafeBistro and we sell a modest amount. We are happy to make a display box and supply it with packets of food for any waterways fundraising group to display in a canal/riverside shop/cafe/pub to make 100%profit.

[RLWP]

So, cinemas sell popcorn to people, Canalchef sells duck food to people - both make a profit

 

It's a business

 

Richadr

[Mac of Cygnet]

The moorings at Mirfield (and I imagine lots of other places) are a horrible disgusting mess due to the flock of Canada geese which have taken up residence. I discovered why when I found someone feeding them. When I pointed out the error of their ways, and that he was causing a much-used pedestrian route, as well as moorings, to become unusable, he seemed quite put out. (Perhaps because I referred to the geese as 'these disgusting animals')

[Jerra]

One poster has mentioned not giving mouldy bread to birds. Why not? The mould is penicillin, which is beneficial to health, but which is not appetising for humans.

 

I mentioned not feeding mouldy bread to birds as the fungi which create the mould can cause serious respiratory problems in birds. As an example mould causes Aspergillosis as serious condition.

[carlt]

As an example mould causes Aspergillosis as serious condition.

 

 

Aspergillosis is caused by a fungus (Aspergillus), which is commonly found growing on dead leaves, stored grain, compost piles, or in other decaying vegetation. It can also be found on marijuana leaves.

 

So I can't give them any more Space Cake then?

[Athy]

Thanks for clarifying that, Jerra. That's something else struck off the bird-tray menu, then.