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Feeding Waterfowl

Feeding waterfowl can create many problems for the birds as well as for the environment, and the practice is discouraged by the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MDFW). The notion that waterfowl cannot survive without human intervention is false. Ducks and geese have survived for thousands of years without handouts and will continue to do so if they are left alone.

In 1973, H.W. Heusmann, a waterfowl biologist with the MDFW, conducted a study at six parks in Massachusetts between mid-August and mid-September. The data gathered during the 28-day period showed that 38,500 people fed 7,800 pounds of food to ducks, which roughly translates to 6,550 loaves of bread. Besides bread, the birds were fed crackers, donuts, pastry, popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, cookies, cereal, peanuts, and lettuce - a diet that most people would never allow their children or pets to consume on a daily basis!

REASONS NOT TO FEED WATERFOWL
Feeding attracts large concentrations of waterfowl to areas that cannot naturally support such numbers. Left on their own, ducks and geese will occupy areas that provide sufficient natural food. As food is depleted in one location they will fly to new feeding areas, often miles away. Mallards in Boston and the surrounding suburbs will readily relocate as far as Cape Cod to find open water and food.

Artificial feeding encourages unnaturally large flocks to gather in one place where the competition for food can then cause unnecessary stress, which may weaken the birds and make them more susceptible to disease.

Human health can be an issue when deposits of fecal matter effect water quality or when droppings foul the surrounding landscape where children come in contact with them.

Mortality is normally high in bird populations; it is a natural mechanism, important in maintaining populations that the environment can support. Artificial feeding may allow frail birds to survive, reproduce, and diminish the species as a whole.

Species of waterfowl that would not normally be found feeding in the same can be artificially concentrated in small areas where an increased incidence of hybridization may occur. This can eventually lead to weakening of the gene pool in certain species. This is an increasing problem in Mallard and black duck populations in Massachusetts.

Ducks and geese are well suited to survive New England winters. Their feathers are designed to provide air pockets that stabilize body temperature and control heat loss. When birds fluff their feathers, they are merely increasing the air space and the insulation. Waterfowl sitting with puffed feathers on a frozen pond are perfectly fine and do not need our help.

BIRDS AND THE LAW
All birds are protected by federal laws under the "Migratory Bird Act of 1918," as well as by Massachusetts state laws. It is illegal to destroy, relocate or possess birds, their nests or their eggs. The only exceptions are non-native species: House Sparrow, European Starling, and Pigeon. Trained and licensed wildlife rehabilitators, who have passed a federal and/or state-administered test, are permitted to care for injured or orphaned wildlife.

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