Feeding Waterbirds

Feeding native animals is not encouraged as it makes animals dependant on artificial food sources and can cause ill health. People who continue to feed the ducks, swans and other waterbirds that frequent the lakes and ponds in Canberra, should be feeding them spinach, silverbeet and lettuce, never any kind of bread. 

Bread does not contain the nutrients needed to keep native birds healthy, and also contains additives. The wrong type of food and lack of required nutrients, can cause birds to become sickly, less resistant to disease and less able to escape predators.

Waterbirds can also become dependant on handouts, and no longer forage for their natural food. Feeding bread to native animals, including waterbirds, also attracts pests such as foxes and cats (which prey on native wildlife); introduced birds such as Starlings and Myna Birds (which aggressively compete for food and nesting sites, forcing native birds out of the area); feral fish (which can cause conditions that leads to the destruction of habitat for native water-life) and other pests such as mice, rats, flies and European wasps. An increase in vermin, can then cause an increase in snake numbers as they breed when there is more food about.  

Flyer - Feeding Waterbirds ( PDF 205Kb)