The Truth About Feeding Ducks: Debunking Common Myths

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"Feeding ducks during childhood always leaves a wonderful feeling." According to Alfred Brehm, "The mallard is one of the most voracious birds we know... clearly, it is tormented by a cruel, insatiable hunger, and it eats until it sleeps and finds something else."
It’s no surprise that a mallard’s stomach welcomes everything imaginable: worms, fish, plants, seeds. In its quest for food, the duck doesn’t just lower its neck into the water—it often turns vertically, striving to reach plants at the bottom of the pond. From morning to evening, ducks dedicate their time to finding nourishment, and their rich diet changes with the seasons.
In spring and summer, they feast on fresh greenery, buds, flowers, and roots of aquatic plants, complemented by insects and larvae. Searching for tiny crustaceans, fish and frog eggs, tadpoles, and fry, ducks filter water with their bills.
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And let's not forget their fondness for acorns—a true delicacy for them.
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"Duckweed – yes, a simple meal for ducks during the warmer months." Do ducks experience the taste of food? Yes! Birds have a specialized organ called taste buds. They can distinguish sweet, salty, sour, and some bitter flavors.
If you'd like ducks to thrive in your city and devour mosquito larvae during summer, it's essential to feed them in winter.
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For these cold times, ducks prefer food floating on the water's surface—something that softens gradually. Think crumbs of bread, dry biscuits, buns, cookies, sandwiches, or cereal flakes. In summer, ducks don't need additional feeding; they can rely on natural food sources. Though many of them stay near feeding spots out of habit.
"Let’s debunk a popular myth: the idea that bread is harmful to wild ducks is misleading." Some members of the British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds made an appeal on May 14, 2008, claiming that bread is not the most nutritious food for ducks.
A link to the article is included in the video description:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...

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But let’s differentiate: harmful and not the most nutritious aren’t the same. There’s no evidence proving that bread is detrimental to wild ducks. Bread may not be ideal, but it’s certainly not fatal.
If ducks couldn’t digest bread —the staple of their winter diet in cities for at least the past 100 years—urban populations of waterfowl would’ve disappeared long ago. Yet, they continue to grow steadily.
It’s possible, albeit unlikely, that feeding domestic ducks solely dry rye bread or foods that swell excessively, like peas, could cause health problems. But wild city ducks, with their mixed diets, face little risk. Ducks aren’t picky eaters; they consume everything they find and what people provide.
Thanks to the variety of food offered by many people—porridge, cookie crumbs, or bread—ducks get adequate nutrition. Fresh or stale bread, whole grain or white, yeast-based or not—it doesn’t matter. It just needs to be crumbled and soaked.
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Even tiny bits of crisps or chocolate glaze on a pastry won’t harm them.
Bread is processed grain, and decomposing soaked grains are a staple of wild ducks' autumn diet in nature. This plant-based, high-calorie food is especially crucial before migration or during the cold season.
In many countries, feeding ducks with bread—or feeding them at all—is prohibited. This is often explained by two reasons: either there are too many birds altering the environment (yes, let’s say it—they mess everywhere) or, conversely, there aren’t enough birds to cope with the endless stream of crumbs and seeds. This leads to littering, rodent infestations, and similar issues.
"Mallards are protected under the Bern and Bonn Conventions, as well as the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds." So, if mallards nest in your area, don’t chase them away or make their lives difficult. Instead, let your garden become an oasis where wild life can flourish.