With their bellies full of bread, leaving little room for real food, they risk becoming undernourished in the midst of plenty. But adults and children love feeding ducks and swans. Bread feeding may be criticised but it’s a marvellous experience for children. During the 1980s and 90s, I purchased sack-loads of discarded bread from a local grocer and fed it to swans in Dublin and Wicklow. There was little evidence of serious adverse effects from bread feeding among the swans.

Source: Irish Examiner February 26, 2026 19:02 UTC