I keep seeing this but as far as I can tell the only study on the subject seems to show that it has no effect on their normal grazing patterns and that both domesticated and wild ducks heavily fed bread spend 90% of their time "naturally grazing"
https://absa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Cor-Vol-35-Pg101_106-Ducks.pdf
It's basically just duck junk food. https://www.uu.nl/en/background/what-to-feed-ducks-according-to-science Probably not an issue if they don't get too much, and still get plenty of good quality food in. I'd still rather give them something good for them, but I'm glad it's not as terrible as it seems.
Totally agree, it's just that there is a lot of pearl clutching when it comes to this topic and we need a more balanced approach.
A little bit of bread is not going to hurt them, but maybe there are some other options that are better. But if they get fed some bread, probably don't need to have an aggressive confrontation about it
I thought the reason they say not to feed ducks bread was because they would get used it and flock to city centers.
Mainly they flock to bakeries. Once they've tried the artesianal stuff they come up with all kinds of crazy hijinks to get it. It's really a nuisance.
“Ok that’s seven loaves of sourdough- Wait. I’m gonna need to see some ID.”
(Reasonable quacking sounds)
“Dang it. It’s ducks in a trench coat again. Third time today.”No bullshit, the local crows know when I'm baking sourdough now. They smell it, I guess, and they know that I'm a soft touch. I usually do little batches of "discard" pancakes, and share a few with them.
They have, however, decided that they will only visit the side yard because of our chicken. She rules the back yard, and they won't fuck with her. So there's this solid mass of iridescent black on that patch, just cawing and waiting until I open the damn window.
I like crows lol.
For a few years, I had a crow friend who liked to perch in the trees across the street. I would yell hello, and they would caw back. They were great, I always have them my food scraps. Stopped coming one day, and I really miss them. I hope they just found greener pastures somewhere.
Oh yeah, crows are survivors. If they moved away, it's because something better drew them. They don't abandon a solid resource without a damn good reason.
You get little cans of peas that you can keep in your car in case of duck sightings
I would love to explain my Emergency Peas to people who saw them.
Based on the meme in a freezer you have in your car as it seems it must be frozen peas otherwise they will fight you to death.
I should explain, due to my experience in this matter. Frozen peas are better, simply because they float. Canned peas sink, so you can only throw a few at a time
That said, I've seen what I am sure was a duck getting brain-freeze from the frozen ones. Can't be sure but I didn't imagine the stinkeye
Isn't all bird excrement diarrhea? They excrete from a cloaca that is both feces and urine mixed, so it's liquid.
as a treat, many ducks love blueberries! it shouldn't be their main food though. I had a duck that would go wild for blueberries.
Mealworms are the shit! It's like my milkshake bringing all the birbs to my yard.
