Thank you for not feeding the ducks. - SSCI Environmental

 

Many people enjoy feeding bits of bread to hungry ducks and geese as their children laugh, squeal, and giggle feeling as if they are part of nature.  However, Texas Parks and Wildlife warns that feeding migratory ducks at local ponds and creeks can create problems for the birds and the environment.  These problems include:

  • Malnutrition
  • Dependency
  • Disease
  • Environmental Degradation
  • Water Pollution

Artificial feeding also attracts birds to human habitats such as parking lots, fast-food restaurants, and retention ponds where they are subject to injury or accidental death.  Waterfowl are protected by natural cover in wildlife areas that provide protection from bad weather and predators such as wild and domesticated animals.  Waterfowl can become conditioned to and dependent on humans for food.  Human fed ducks and geese behave differently and are more aggressive, than these species in the wild. These birds will eventually lose their wariness of humans and won’t be able to survive without human interaction.

Families can still interact with waterfowl by viewing ducks and geese in their natural habitat.  We encourag you to learn more about waterfowl and their natural habits at places such as zoos and nature centers, which often offer feeding waterfowl.

Six things you should never feed ducks

  1. Bread
  2. Chips
  3. Crackers
  4. Cereal
  5. Sweets
  6. Moldy food
Six things you should feed ducks

  1. Corn
  2. Lettuce
  3. Peas
  4. Oats
  5. Rice
  6. Seeds

Below is a list of the top 5 birding sites in the Houston area.

  1. High Island
  2. Armand Bayou Nature Center
  3. Big Thicket National Preserve
  4. San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge
  5. Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge