What to Feed Newburgh's Ducks

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Sorry, kids: Turns out, bread is one of the worst things you can feed ducks. i know you love to go down to the river to throw stale bits of bread into the water and watch them flock (get it? “Flock?”) to you, but it’s actually bad for them when you do that. Here’s why:

  1. It fills them up with non-nutritious food. They love it, though, just like we all love candy, potato chips and other junk food! But it expands in their stomachs so that they can’t get the nourishing food they need.

  2. Too many handouts interferes with baby ducks’ ability to learn to forage for the stuff they need to grow and be healthy, and prevents them from being hungry for that nutritious food.

  3. Uneaten pieces of bread turn moldy. Green mold causes lung disease in ducks, in addition to attracting rats, insects and other vermin.

  4. Too much bread (which they LOVE, don’t forget) not only makes ducks sick and dependent on humans, but also causes them to become aggressive when large flocks see people at the river’s edge. They waddle on up to you and peck at you and won’t leave you alone.

    So, what should we feed ducks instead of bread, popcorn, potato chips and pastries of any kind? Here are some alternatives:

    • cracked corn, which can be bought online or at farm stores;

    • frozen peas or frozen corn, defrosted (cooking not necesary)

    • barley or rice (cooked or raw)

    • plain, uncooked oats

    • grapes, cut in half, so they don’t choke (ducks cannot chew)

    • mealworms, which you can buy online, in pet stores or the pet-food sections of some supermarkets — but they’re very expensive

    • natural greens like cut grass and weeds (these can be fed to ducks in any quantity)

      Bottom line: i’m hoping to talk our City Council into springing for a couple of duck-food dispensers to install down at the river. i’ve seen them in other cities; for something like a quarter, they dispense a handful of cracked corn or other nutritious duck-food. There’s one company that installs solar-powered dispensers. Cool, right? And good for our ducks!

No bread for this beautiful fellow, please! keep hudson-river ducks healthy!