PSA: You Should Never Feed Bread To Ducks

Sorry to ruin your day/life leading up to this point, but you shouldn’t feed bread to ducks. According to this sign shared on Twitter, the bread crumbs you’ve been tossing to your local ducks can do more harm than help.

The sign’s warning reads:

“Bread makes us ill, as it does not contain the right nutrition or calories that we need to keep us warm in the winter. Rotting bread pollutes our water and causes nasty surface algae, which kills our fish and gives us diseases. It also makes our water smell.”

So, every time you’ve wistfully thrown bread to ducks in a pond like a more hygge Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2, you may have been slowly murdering them and their ecosystem. Also, you've been making their water stank.

However, you are not the only unknowing accomplice to bread-related duck crimes. In the UK, it’s estimated that people feed six million loaves of bread to ducks each year. While it’s tempting to share the joy of carbohydrates to all of the animal kingdom, conservationists say bread is not for birds.

You can still feed the ducks, at least at the park from the PSA, but the sign recommends these foods: half cut seedless grapes, cooked rice, birdseed of any variety, peas, corn, oats, and chopped lettuce.

If you have suddenly been overcome with guilt and feel the need to repent, you are not alone. Twitter is rightfully shooketh.

Despite it being bad for them, ducks will likely still try to eat bread if you toss it to them. This is due to the fact that bread is delicious and the temptation to eat what you shouldn't doesn't discriminate against any species. My dog regularly tries to eat her own poop. We can't help who and what we love.

Don't beat yourself up over this newfound knowledge. We're all learning and growing everyday. Next time you're at a park, carry around some bird seed or loose cooked rice, if that's somehow convenient for you. Reach out to a duck you care about and tell them you're sorry. Watch this video of ducks eating watermelon. We can all work to make the world a better place, one bread-less duck at a time.