Rhodinne+Wang

=__Bread or Lettuce?__= =Introduction= Mallard ducks are among the most common birds on Earth. The familiar emerald green-headed males and mottled brown females reside in North America, Europe, and Asia. Easily adaptable, they are found near fresh water and saltwater, as well as swimming pools and koi ponds. They are comfortable around humans, and children feeding ducks in parks and ponds are a common occurrence.

Ducks are omnivores. In the wild, ducks’ diets consist of insects, fish,small crustaceans and amphibians, grass shoots, water plants, and grains. Ducks on farms and in zoos are typically fed cracked corn. Ducks in parks and ponds are often fed bread.

Some birders suggest that bread is not a healthy food for ducks. Not only is it not part of their natural diet, but it also offers little in the way of nutrition. The goal of this experiment is to find a healthier, yet readily available food for children to feed to ducks. Lettuce is a natural food that can be grown hydroponically. It provides fiber, vitamins, and minerals to ducks, and is somewhat comparable to aquatic plants in color and texture.

=Question= Will mallard ducks rather eat lettuce than bread?

=Hypotheses= If ducks are consistently offered both bread and lettuce, after several days, they will begin to show a preference for lettuce, as it is more like the aquatic plants that are part of their natural diet. Null hypothesis: The mallard ducks will show a preference for bread. Alternative hypothesis: The ducks will eat both the bread and lettuce equally.

=Materials=
 * Whole wheat bread
 * Leafy lettuce
 * Measuring cup
 * Knife
 * Camera
 * Data chart
 * Pen

=Methods= For seven to ten consecutive days: 1. Cut bread and lettuce into 1-inch squares. The sizes should be as similar as possible to eliminate size as a variable. 2. Measure 2 cups of bread and 2 cups of lettuce into a container. Mix bread and lettuce to eliminate food position as a variable. 3. Between 2:00-3:00 in the afternoon each day, locate a flock of ducks at Jamaica Pond. Make sure that they are not in the vicinity of Canada Geese. Pour food on the water’s edge for ducks. (This time was selected because it is a quieter time of day at the pond with fewer people to affect the experiment.) 4. Observe feeding behavior and remain in position until ducks leave. 5. Record consumption behavior and measure leftover food. 6. Record information on the data chart.

=Results=

=Analysis= Over the course of ten days, the mallard ducks showed a singular preference for bread, eating all the bread that was offered every day and not consuming any lettuce.

=Discussion= The mallard ducks’ preference for bread was not expected. It was anticipated that the ducks would initially eat the bread, as they have been conditioned to eat bread from humans. Over the course of the experiment, it was predicted that the ducks would taste the lettuce and begin to eat it, and show a strong preference for it because it is a food that is similar to the aquatic plants that are part of their natural diet. This did not happen, and the hypothesis was not supported.

The lettuce was organically grown and contained no pesticides. Therefore, there was no chemical scent or taste associated with the lettuce. The bread and lettuce were cut into same size pieces to avoid a size difference to influence the ducks’ choice. In addition, the bread and lettuce were mixed so that the placement of the food would not affect what the ducks ate. Adult ducks selectively picked up pieces of bread among the lettuce. On several occasions, young ducks picked up the lettuce. They opened and closed their beaks once around the lettuce, and then dropped it. They did not eat it. Young ducks had less experience being fed by humans and had to compete with adults for the bread, so may have been more willing to try new foods. An alternative explanation for this would be that the young ducks were picking off crumbs of bread from the lettuce. The lettuce did not appeal to the ducks. When all of the bread was eaten, they did not then eat the lettuce.

Because of the large size of the pond (1.5 mile circumference), there were several families of mallard ducks living there. Without being able to tag the ducks for identification, there was no way to know if the ducks being fed were the same ducks previously fed, so the ducks’ exposure to lettuce could have been less than 10 days. Also once they had consumed the bread, their appetites were not as great, which may have allowed them to walk away from the lettuce. If lettuce alone were offered, the ducks' willingness to try the lettuce may have been greater. However, this is not likely because even when larger flocks came to feed, and there was less bread to go around, hungry ducks did not eat the lettuce.

To ducks, the lettuce may have been significantly different from aquatic plants. Ducks eat wapato, arrow arum, wild celery, Sago pondweed, and wild rice. They eat the fruits and tubers of some of these, and the thin stems of others. The leafy lettuce offered to the ducks did not offer a fruit, tuber, or much of a stem.

=**Conclusion**= While ducks have adapted to being fed by humans, they will not eat anything that they are offered. Natural foods that might appear in their environment are not always recognized as “food” by the flocks. While omnivores, the ducks show a clear preference for certain foods. Closer examination of aquatic plants would help identify more comparable plants to feed ducks that would be healthier choices than bread. In addition, other readily available grains, such as rice and corn, could be tried.

=**References**= “Mallard.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Library Edition. [].

“Mallard.” __All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology__. 2011. Cornell University. Accessed 7/5/2012. [].

“Mallard Duck.” __Animals – National Geo Wild__. 2012. National Geographic Society. Accessed 7/5/2012. []

“Mallard-Ana platyrhynchos.” __Nature Works__. 2012. New Hampshire Public Television. Accessed 7/5/2012. []

“Mallard.” __Living with Wildlife in Illinois__. 2012. University of Illinois Extension. Accessed 7/5/2012. []

Worthington, Margaret. “What to Plant for Wild Ducks.” __ehow__. 2012. Demand Media, Inc. Accessed 7/15/2012. [|www.ehow.com/way_5747502.plant-wild-ducks.html]

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