Some people enjoy feeding waterfowl. They visit lakes, ponds, and town parks to toss bread, corn, popcorn, or table scraps to the ducks and geese that congregate in these places. Some people say that it makes them feel good to help the ducks . . . that it brings the ducks closer for their kids to see . . . that it’s an escape from the daily grind.

Is it good to feed waterfowl? No, artificial feeding is actually harmful to waterfowl.

Artificial feeding of waterfowl can cause:

• Poor nutrition

• Increased hybridization

• Water pollution

• Delayed migration

• Concentrations at unnatural sites

• Overcrowding

• Spread of disease

• Costly management efforts

• Unnatural behaviour

• Cumulative effects

• Devaluation of the species

Nutrition

It would seem that providing food for ducks and geese would make them healthier. However, this is not the case. Waterfowl at artificial feeding sites are often found to suffer from poor nutrition. In natural settings, waterfowl seek and feed on a variety of nutritious foods such as aquatic plants, natural grains, and invertebrates. Many of the items commonly used to feed waterfowl (bread, corn, popcorn, etc.) are low in protein and are very poor substitutes for natural foods.

Results of Artificial Feeding

• Excess nutrients in ponds caused by unnatural numbers of waterfowl droppings can result in water-quality problems such as summer algal blooms. And where waterfowl congregate to feed, E-coli counts can swell to levels that make the water unsuitable for swimming.

• In some cases, humans have been affected by disease transmitted by waterfowl. Swimmers often contract Swimmer’s Itch, caused by a parasite that is emitted by ducks who are attracted to artificial feeding locations.

• Large concentrations of waterfowl can facilitate the spread of disease within the flock.

• Hundreds of ducks have been killed by Avian Botulism after eating at artificial feeding sites.

• Feeding alters normal migration patterns of waterfowl by shortening or even eliminating them.

Clearly, you do not need to feed waterfowl in order to enjoy them. In fact, it should be apparent now that the best thing you can do for the overall benefit of waterfowl is to stop artificial feeding.