Wascana Lake’s fair weather residents may be better off taking cereals out of their diets.
The Wascana Centre Authority in Regina is launching a campaign called “Bread is Bad for Me” that encourages the park’s visitors to feed greens and grains to the geese.
“When waterfowl are fed items like bread and popcorn, malnutrition and disease can become an issue, especially in young developing birds,” according to the authority’s website.
Foods like bread, crackers, popcorn, cereal and pastry can cause problems for geese, the authority says.
Angel Wing, for example, is a wing deformity most commonly found in parks where the public feeds bread or other similar foods to the birds.
“Such diets cause young waterfowl to grow unnaturally fast and as a result, their wing weight outgrows the strength of the wing to support it, resulting in the twisting,” the Wascana website reads.
Peas, lentils, parsley, barley, wheat, lettuce and spinach are okay to feed the birds.
Park officials encourage visitors, if feeding the birds, to stick to designated feeding zones. Grain dispensers have since been installed at the park.
