I hope I am not putting any salt in old wounds with this...
I understand that it is a bad idea to feed wild birds seed; it encourages bad habits, can be unhealthy and spreads awful diseases. However, in many city parks it is a common practise to feed bread to ducks; most of the time it appears to be white bread, and the ducks survive quite happily (provided they are not over fed, which causes numerous problems).
Without this degenerating into a discussion about the ethics of feeding birds (I suspect you have probably been over that area), I was wondering if it would be better to feed the ducks multigrain bread, as it would have a higher nutritional value to them. From what I have found on the internet, white bread is not actually in itself bad for the ducks, only that has no nutritional value for them and can be harmful when it comprises a large portion of their diet. But, apparently, they do actually quite like the stuff (beyond it simply being food). So, would the multigrain bread be harmful to the ducks, or would the seeds be beneficial over the dietary nothingness of white bread. I understand that just because something (ie. white bread) is (sort of) good for humans doesn't mean that it is good for the ducks, but would the seeds in multigrain bread benefit the ducks or harm them?
I know there are other alternatives to bread; things like grape halves or quarters that can be fed to semi-domesticated ducks that are more healthy for them. However, it remains common to feed them bread, and I have seen people feeding ducks a mix of things like that and bread so that it all lasts longer (especially when there are a lot of ducks). Once again, even if other bread- substitutes are being used, would multigrain be better than white bread, which seems to be the most common?
Hi Lachlan, I think you have answered your own questions in many ways. So rather than me starting a new debate over an old problem, I will post a sign that the Casey Council has put up around lakes and Parks.
But to answer one of your questions, you said:
I was wondering if it would be better to feed the ducks multigrain bread, as it would have a higher nutritional value to them.
The only answer I can give you, NO bread is best.
M-L
Thanks for the poster, it was interesting, I hadn't realised that bread was considered that bad- some parts of the internet had led me to thinks otherwise, it is not their natural food after all, and it pollutes the environment they live in. But some people do rather enjoy feeding ducks bread (I certainly can't claim to be innocent), and consider it a normal thing to do. I still would like to know if multigrain is better for them that white bread- even if both are equally bad for the ducks, it would be nice to know.
As far as I know, it's the yeast in the bread that birds can't digest. others might be able to tell you more about why ducks have problems digesting it. I'm not an expert on it, as I always say
M-L
Ah, thanks. So any seeds in the multigrain wouldn't make any difference. You're as good as an expert- you certainly know more about the subject than I do. Besides, I might as well take your opinion as the rest of the internet disagrees with itself as usual.
What a nice compliment Lachlan
I always think it's best to enjoy birds in their natural environment, and just like people don't have to eat big Macs, birds should be eating what nature intended them to eat.
You seem like a very nice guy. Do you take any photos of birds? Hope you hang around for a bit
M-L
Thanks for the return compliment.
I do take photos, but I'm not anywhere near as good as you guys on the Best Photos subforum- I also get way less practise... I might think about putting some stuff up one day, but I'm my own worst enemy, always finding problems with my own pictures (especially at 500KB)
Still, I think I'll hang around for a while; you have some really interesting discussions on here (and there's alway plenty of pretty pictures to look at!).
You don't have to stick to the 500KB, some of us (like me) use Flickr to upload, easy. Have a look into it. See you soon.
M-L
Naah, I don't trust Flickr and the other image sharing sites- I have read some truly awful stories about them and people having stuff stolen off them. I guess I'm just a bit paranoid, being one of the few people in the world (it seems) without a Facebook account (their privacy setting are horrendous). I just don't really trust the internet. Most people on it are good, ordinary nice people, but then there are other people out there who aren't quite as civil.
I'm with you on that, I have brought up that discussion here many times. Most people don't seem to worry. I have my settings on "only I can see". But from this forum here it is just one click, and you can take what ever you like. Unless someone catches you.
I only got a facebook account last year, so I could talk to friends and family over in France, but I hardly ever post anything. Like you I think people are far too trusting in handing out information.
Would still like to see some of your photos.
M-L
The problem, in my opinion, with Facebook is that the sole purpose of the company is to mine data and sell it on to other customers. If it simply existed as a means of communication with adds thrown in to generate revenue, if would seem more acceptable to me, but lots (I have read) of the money it makes comes from selling data. Hence, I don't really want any part of it. Also, there have been a number of incidents where thieves have monitored peoples' Facebook pages and used programmes to alert them possible targets when state things like that they are going on holidays. Plus, there are the constant changes to the terms and conditions of use that can be quite underhanded and make things public.
I guess that while other sites like Flickr mightn't be as bad, my distrust Facebook (and Instagram) kind tars the whole lot of them. For talking to people, Skype seems all right to me, but maybe thats just because I haven't found anything bad about it yet! Overall though, I do try and not be too technophobic, as there is probably data about all of us available out there anyway. I just feel that by avoiding the social media sites I can lessen the chances loosing data and keep a transparent internet profile. But then, maybe I'm just a paranoid technophobe who will turn out to be wrong anyway.
Lachlan
It is a terrible idea to feed ducks bread as has been said. Here are a couple of useful links for you to check.
http://birding.about.com/od/birdfeeders/a/feedingducksbread.htm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2258340/Quack-cocaine-Charity-warns-feed-ducks-bread-birds-hooked-starchy-foods.html
Probably the best of the three:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7001.html
Thanks for the link to the links (especially the New York DEC one), I hadn't realised that feeding anything to ducks was so bad, other sites I had read suggested that alternatives were all right.
Oats are cheaper than bread anyway. Everyone like oats... even me.
Of course, but they have to be Uncle Toby's!
I was reading something today, and came across the attached cartoon. Made me laugh so hard because of BIB.
Thanks windshear, makes me laugh to. Would make great posters to put up in parks.What was it published in?
M-L
It's one of a multitude of cute animal-based cartoons by someone on tumblr. (address is at bottom of pic)