How does it affect waterfowl when humans feed them?

Question

Thousands of people each day feed waterfowl at lakes, ponds, and rivers. I would think a majority of them feed the waterfowl bread. How does bread affect their heath and what would be a better choice?

Answer 1

feeding them is not a good idea because it makes them depend on humans for food- they get too fat and lazy to find their own food.

A good substitute would be hard corn or alfalfa. In the wild, those are the fields they will flock to, especially in the fall. They like soy fields, but soybeans are extremely fattening and not good in large amounts. In the spring they actually ususally eat a lot of invertebrates to keep up protien levels for poults and rearing them.

Answer 2

Bread is deficient in a number of nutrients and is not appropriate for waterfowl. Better choices would be whole grains which would normally be eaten by these birds if foraging for themselves.