ENVIRONMENT
What do ducks eat? Learn a little more about mallards with our great resource!
Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit.
Photograph by B. Anthony Stewart, National Geographic
Discussion Ideas
- So, most people have been feeding ducks all wrong. Why do experts recommend not feeding ducks bread crumbs?
- It’s junk food that offers little-to-no nutritional benefit to the ducks. “White bread in particular has no real nutritional value, so while birds may find it tasty, the danger is that they will fill up on it instead of other foods that could be more beneficial to them,” says a spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
- Reliance on human-supplied junk food keeps ducklings from learning how to forage healthy food for themselves.
- A high-carbohydrate, high-protein diet is associated with a wing deformity known as “angel wing” or “airplane wing”. Angel wing is a condition where the last joint on the wing is distorted and causes the end feathers to stick out laterally—sideways—instead of lying flat against the body. This prevents the bird from flying.
- Specifically, a high-protein diet contributes to the wing bones growing too fast and making the wing too heavy for the joint. The excessive growth also twists the joint.
- Angel wing can be reversed in ducklings but is incurable in adults.
- Uneaten bread crumbs attract predators, grow mold that makes ducks and other riparian critters sick, and contribute to the growth of cyanobacteria and harmful algal blooms.
- Is there anything else we should avoid feeding ducks, swans, and geese?
- Yes. Avocados, onions, citrus, nuts, chocolate, popcorn, carbonated beverages, and alcohol should never, ever be fed to ducks.
- OK, so what sort of foods do ducks eat in the wild?
- Ducks are omnivores, meaning they regularly consume a variety of foods, including plants, animals, algae, and fungi. Ducks are a wildly varied species, with cosmopolitan distribution ranging from sub-Antarctic islands to tropical Hawaii to all those subtropical Canada geese. Their diets are dependent on their habitat. Having said that, ducks regularly eat:
- algae and aquatic plants
- worms, crustaceans, and snails and other mollusks
- small fish and fish eggs
- insects
- berries, fruit, and nuts
- small amphibians such as frogs, newts, and salamanders
- Ducks are omnivores, meaning they regularly consume a variety of foods, including plants, animals, algae, and fungi. Ducks are a wildly varied species, with cosmopolitan distribution ranging from sub-Antarctic islands to tropical Hawaii to all those subtropical Canada geese. Their diets are dependent on their habitat. Having said that, ducks regularly eat:
- Well, we’re unlikely to collect eye of newt and toe of frog for our friendly neighborhood waterfowl. What is safe and healthy to feed?
- Lettuce and cabbage! The good folks at the British Canal and River Trust even did a ducky taste test, and kale and pea shoots came out on top.
- Here’s a great list of safe-for-waterfowl foodstuffs, which include cucumber, corn, peas, beans, broccoli, beets, squash, flowers, alfalfa, tomatoes, eggplant, bananas (no peel), pineapple, pomegranate seeds, scrambled eggs, dry cat food or dog food, and rice.
- Wait a minute—rice? I thought rice made birds’ stomachs explode!
TEACHERS TOOLKIT
Popular Science: Why you should never ever feed bread to a duck
Nat Geo: What are mallards?
Nat Geo: What are omnivores?
Canal & River Trust: The duck and lettuce taste test
BackYard Chickens: The ULTIMATE list of DUCK Treats and Supplements…
Hew, here it is
“Is there anything else we should avoid feeding ducks, swans, and geese?” “Nuts”
“OK, so what sort of foods do ducks eat in the wild?” “berries, fruit, and nuts”
We were thrown by that, too. Turns out ducks do eat nuts/seeds, but we probably shouldn’t second-guess what types or how much.