Ducks, Geese, and Swans Are Dying Because People Have Stopped Feeding Them Bread

• People were initially told to stop feeding bread to the birds, saying bread is bad for them.
• Because of lack of bread, the birds have become underweight or starving to death.
• Now people in the UK are encouraged to feed bread to the birds again.

Feeding the ducks, geese, and swans have become a staple activity of people when they go visit the ponds in parks. We just love seeing them swarming towards the pieces of bread that we throw into the water.

But through the years, more and more ponds prohibited giving bread to these animals. They say it’s not good for them.

A campaign was even launched by charity group Swan Lifetime, saying that bread was bad for swans.

However, it was discovered later on that more swans and ducks have become critically underweight, or worse, died from starvation.

Now the birds are apparently suffering the effects of people not feeding them bread. There are claims that they are actually starving and dying due to lack of bread.

According to Birmingham Live, in the UK, posters have been put up giving people the go signal to feed bread to the bird.

The posters read:

“Please feed us again, especially in the winter! Everyone has stopped feeding us because they wrongly think bread will make us poorly and now some of us are dying of starvation without your bread.

Yes, it’s not the healthiest for us but nothing in our bellies will kill us!”

This left people a little confused on whether to resume giving bread to the birds. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds clarified the whole thing and explained that while ducks, geese, and swans CAN digest all types of bread, too much can be a bad thing, since they will feel full without getting the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that they need.

They explained that bread by itself is NOT harmful but advise the public to give bread only in small amounts.

Also, they suggest healthier alternatives, such as defrosted frozen peas, porridge oats, sweet corn, and of course, bird feed.

This was further pushed by David Barber, official swan keeper to Queen Elizabeth herself. The Queen owns all the swans in the UK and every year, she actually has them counted.

He said that there’s no good reason to deny the bird their bread. He explained that swans have been eating bread for hundreds of years and the animals have not suffered any ill effects.

While bread may not be the best dietary option for these birds, it does serve as an important source of energy for them and acts as supplement to their natural diet. As long as the breads are not moldy, it’s perfectly all right to feed the swans bread.