{"id":37348,"date":"2024-04-04T12:25:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T10:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aded06de-6633-4008-bd6b-d4d0f178c7ef"},"modified":"2024-04-04T13:35:38","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T11:35:38","slug":"should-we-feed-bread-to-birds","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/should-we-feed-bread-to-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Should we feed bread to birds?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Should you feed bread to birds? Stuart Blackman takes a look at the evidence <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 04 April 2024 at 10:25 AM<\/p>

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Feeding the birds is one of life\u2019s simple pleasures. But deciding when, how and what to feed them can be surprisingly tricky. The question of whether we should feed bread to birds is usually posed in the context of ducks in the park.\u00a0<\/p>

Can you feed bread to ducks?<\/h2>

There\u2019s little evidence that it does them much harm in itself, though one study from the 1980s suggested that a bread diet reduces muscle mass in swans.\u00a0<\/p>

The current consensus is that bread just doesn\u2019t have the nutritional value of alternatives such as grain or vegetables and that ducks that come to rely on bakery products thrown at them by toddlers are less motivated to forage for other, more healthy options.<\/p>

\u201cBread is fine for water birds as long as it only forms a small part of their diet,\u201d advises the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)<\/a>. \u201cModeration is especially important in the spring and summer, when an unbalanced diet can cause developmental problems for growing young birds.\u201d<\/p>

On the other hand, feeding bread might still be better than nothing, especially in winter, when food is scarce.<\/p>

More feeding advice<\/h2>