Don't duck the issue - bread is bad for birds at pond says Carlisle woman

Now one local woman is spreading a message that might be hard to swallow: bread is bad for the birds and for the pond.

Sally Dalglish moved to Upperby last year. She has a lifelong interest in birds, and was concerned by the sight of people feeding bread to ducks and swans.

"I found the park beautiful," says Sally. "I found the people lovely. The tragedy for me was that people didn't understand that birds have a crop where they put grain or seeds and a gizzard which grinds it up.

"People treat it as if the birds have human digestion. They can't digest bread. It gives them malnutrition, bloating and angel wing disease, which can hamper the way they fly or stop them flying altogether."

Many organisations, including the RSPB, support the claim that bread damages birds' health and stops them eating a natural, balanced diet.

Sally has tried to raise awareness by printing notices and taping them to the park's gates and bridges, asking people to feed the birds things like cooked peas and seed instead.

"A few people would say to me 'I didn't realise bread didn't do them any good' and started feeding them seed. Others felt antagonised because it's the opposite of what they've always done.

"I put signs up three times and they were all torn down. Seeing the signs is like being told off. They don't like it. They like seeing the children feeding them bread. But for birds it's junk food."

Sally has spoken to Carlisle City Council and is hopeful that it will put up its own signs.

Green spaces manager Phil Gray says the council is considering this. "We've seen posters from Adelaide, Australia, asking people not to feed ducks bread and explaining why. We're looking at something similar.

"I do understand that since time immemorial people have fed the ducks bread. I think we would hesitate to ban it. What we would rather do is inform people what the problems are."

Bread can also diminish water quality, contributing to the algae which has plagued the pond in recent years.

The Canal and River Trust is among the bodies to point out that uneaten bread causes algal blooms, allows bacteria to breed and attracts vermin. It also creates excessive bird droppings which can reduce water quality and encourage algae.

Phil Gray says: "Any uneaten bread floats down and affects the water quality. Anything adding nutrients to the water encourages algae to grow. If there's lumps of soggy bread it adds to the general slime."

Sally says that Hammond's Pond café sells seed but the café is closed in winter. Bags of bird seed and swan food are available at many pet shops and homeware stores.

"I love the park, and the swans and the ducks and all the birds," says Sally. "They're not in such good condition as they could be. If they were fed grain they would be in tip-top condition."