Good intentions on the part of the public have resulted in waterfowl deaths caused from avian botulism growing on stale bread, rice, meat, noodles and tortillas being dumped into County lakes by members of the public. Literally trash bags full of stale bread, rice, meat, noodles and tortillas are being deposited daily at not only County lakes, but other sensitive habitats such as Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach and Laguna Lake in Fullerton with the same disastrous results.
Ducks are foragers and feed on works, bugs and other insects living in the grass.
They are not lacking for food. According to experts, heat spurs the bloom of algae, which then depletes oxygen in the water. Increased fecal matter from over feeding left by large number of waterfowl feeds the growth of botulin-toxin this is picked up by insects and stale food. Fish eat the insects and human food. Birds eat the fish, algae and human food.