12/1/2023 0 Comments Wild duck feeder![]() ![]() Salty or sugary snacks-stay away from all junk food and highly processed foods.Parts of these plants can be highly toxic to ducks. Any plants or foods from the nightshade family-this includes eggplants, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and some types of flowers and foliage.Any dairy products like cheese cubes or ice cream-ducks cannot digest these properly.Bread products like stale donuts, crackers, and breadcrumbs-these simply aren’t healthy.It’s best to avoid these other food groups, too, as some are not safe to feed ducks and other waterfowl: Bread is a lot like candy: it tastes good and provides some short-term energy, but it doesn’t contain many nutrients and too much of it can lead to poor health. If you grew up feeding bread to ducks at the park, don’t worry-it didn’t kill them. If you see a bird having difficulty moving around or visibly in distress, contact your local wildlife specialists right away. Feeding them may be a temporary kindness, but it’s not a sustainable solution. Waterfowl that live in parks are susceptible to a host of dangers from the human world, ranging from vehicle strikes to lead poisoning. If you suspect a particular duck, goose, or swan may be unable to feed itself after you leave, it’s time to call in professional help. When in doubt, it’s better to stop feeding the birds sooner than you’d like than it is to feed them too much. In fact, overfeeding waterfowl can cause a host of problems, from teaching them to rely on human handouts to throwing off their natural nutritional balance. ![]() That means you don’t need to feel bad if some of them miss out on the feast. Most ducks are perfectly capable of foraging for insects, plant life, and other nutrition sources on their own. No matter how eager they are for a human-provided snack, your local park’s resident fowl are almost certainly not going to go hungry without you. This designer food may be best served up on the banks. These bite-size bits may not float on water, though, so test a few handfuls near the water’s edge before you start a feeding frenzy. These pellets, available online or at your local pet store, are typically fed to pet birds and farm animals. If you’re looking to get fancy, you can also drop a couple more dollars on a bag of specially formulated waterfowl food. Big chunks of food that sink to the bottom aren’t as useful. Even better, many of these little morsels will float on your local pond, keeping them easily accessible to ducks. Grains like oats, rice, and seeds make good waterfowl chow for the same reason. Cut salad greens, vegetable peels, nuts, grapes, and other produce into small pieces before you toss them to these birds.Ī bag of frozen mixed peas, corn niblets, and carrot pieces is one of the best options for waterfowl: these veggies are nutritious, affordable, and small enough for ducks to eat whole. Ducks and their relatives aren’t great at chewing-while their bills help break down food, they don’t have teeth, at least in the traditional sense. Instead, try to stick with snacks that haven’t been highly processed.įor vegetables, the most important consideration is making sure that the bits and pieces you offer are small enough for waterfowl to handle. Even though bread is typically made from grains, the breadmaking process renders it very filling with a relatively low amount of nutrients, two factors that can lead to malnourished ducks. This means vegetables and nutritious grains work well, while processed “human” foods do not. The best advice we can give about feeding ducks (or other types of park fowl like swans and geese) is to imitate the types of food they naturally eat in the ponds and fields they call home. Before you go stock up on snacks, though, always make sure you’re allowed to feed the critters in question-some areas’ rules are more lenient than others. But don’t be fooled: this stereotype is actually an unhealthy practice that could lead to malnourishment and other health problems for these epicurean waterfowl.īut if you’re an animal lover determined to feed your local park’s residents, there are several healthy alternatives. Learn more ›Ĭountless movies, TV shows, and even comics depict the age-old tradition of feeding bread products to ducks at the park. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. ![]()
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