For some reason this post caused me to search to see if there are types of birdseed which are not suitable for ducks. From a few minutes of reading, I'm relatively sure now that at least all common types of birdseed are fine for them. But, along the way, I found this LLM slop https://plantnative.org/can-ducks-eat-bird-seed.htm (URL rendered unclickable since it is spam) which strongly implies that ducks are not in fact birds:

• "Yes, ducks do eat bird seed. Although bird seeds are specifically prepared to meet the nutrient demand of birds. But still, bird seed can be served as a snack to ducks in limited amounts."
• "Bird seeds are loaded with nutrients and can be beneficial for ducks the way they are for birds."

I have ducks and they go absolutely crazy for watermelon. My neighbor gave me half a watermelon the other day because he couldn't fit it in his fridge. I have it to the ducks and they went wild. Luke a cartoon style piranha feeding frenzy. The white birds looked like they'd been drenched in the blood of their enemies. One of them decided to sit in the empty rind after they were done and laid an egg in it, to assert dominance.

They also love birdseed and peas. I had a duck who could recognize canned peas based on the labels and would flip out if he saw me approaching with them. He also adored bird seed and would help himself to the bag if it was in a place he could knock it over. Found him stuck in an empty birdseed bag once. It wasn't empty that morning. Bro was a glutton, but he was a good boi.

If I'm being completely fair and objective, not all birds eat "bird seed" and not everyone is well-informed about the diets of various types of bird. But also, at least where I live, some parks have signs that specifically say not to feed the ducks/geese at all, and I can totally understand how that might lead people to conclude that it's not safe to feed them.

On the other hand, I'm reminded of the time that I was at an insect exhibit when one of the educators running the booth referred to "these animals" and the woman behind me asked something like "bugs is animals?" And it still leaves me perplexed that otherwise seemingly fully functional people make it to adulthood thinking that insects are not animals.

Half cut seedless grapes

Note: if you choose to feed grapes to ducks in a public place, please be courteous about any that may fall on the ground or be left uneaten. Grapes are dangerous for dogs and aren't good for cats either, but some will absolutely eat them if they're left around.

I actually know where that sign is. Everyone ignores it, of course.

ducks also go crazy for blueberries. I raised a duck and they were always his favorite

Then, suddenly, Diogenes appears, plucks every feather from the duck, shoves it into the faces of those sitting on the bench, screams 'This is no bird, behold, a man!', laughs manically, shits in the duck pond, runs away.

The first thing they ask for IS grapes.

Chose pics from a span of 4 years that shows a variety of birds. The lil shits have been hard to get pics of lately because they've been acting spicy. I think the heat this summer is making them cranky.

I have 9 birds now, all grown. 2 Muscovy females named Lady and Mama Duck. Mama Duck will fight anyone and anything she thinks is gonna mess with the flock. I caught her trying to fight a deer the other day when she escaped xontainment. One female Pekin named Judy, who judges the fuck outta me every time I see her. One male Pekin named Salt who is chonky. One female golden layer named Caprisun, who is by far the dumbest bird I've ever met. One male khaki Campbell named Pepper, who is bonded with Salt. One khaki Campbell female named Cayenne, who doesn't have a super distinct personality. One mallard female named Amy, who looks like a male because when female duck ovaries die, they start to look like males. One female Cayuga named Chanel who is like Cayenne with no distinct personality lol.

The real big one in the pics below was Antonio. A gigantic Muscovy male. Best bird I ever had. He was so happy and loved caring for babies and loved hugs and pets. When he had babies to care for, he was known as Big Papa Tony. He sadly passed this past winter.

Bird is the word

Cooked rice? Really? TIL.

This reminds me of an old family story. My grandpa used to have an uncle who had flamingo's. Imagine walking through a Dutch village somewhere in the 60's and seeing a bunch of flamingo's standing in some muddy ditch. I have have no clue how he they ended up there, but it apparently wasn't the first time he ended up with some tropical animal. My grandpa had to take care of them for a while, but didn't really know what to feed them. He also had some parrots and would buy food for them from the miller. Considering these were also birds, just larger, he went to the miller and asked for food for flamingo's. The miller did not know what flamingo's were. He therefore explained that they were large pink birds. The miller was not convinced, thinking he was pulling his leg and sent him away with a few bags of chicken feed.

Why is bread bad for duck, but cooked rice good? Isn't that basically the same thing? Bread is wheat, water, bit of salt. Cooked rice is rice, water, bit of salt. Or can't ducks handle gluten?