Do Ducks Eat Flowers? (And What Are the Good Ones?)

The answer to this question is yes, ducks do eat flowers.

In reality, ducks are omnivores which means that they eat both plant and animal food sources. There are many different types of plant foods that a duck would enjoy for either leisurely grazing or as snacks to go with the usual fare of aquatic plants like dandelions, roses, and many others.

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What Kind Of Flowers Do Ducks Eat?

Ducks eat all types of plants, so they will eat flowers too. Some of the most common flowers that ducks will eat are :

1. Dandelions:

Ducks love dandelions. It is one of their favorite foods. Dandelions are more than just food for ducks; dandelion flowers also act as a nesting material for them.

As cute as this sounds, you might not want to encourage your duck to nest in your yard if you do not want ducklings. This is because female ducks will abandon the nests they build after laying eggs and it can be hard work getting the changed grass out of the nest!

2. Roses:

Roses are a favorite with many ducks. Not only do they eat the petals and leave the buds, they will sometimes eat the whole rose. Ducks seem to particularly love red roses.

3. Day lilies:

Ducks also love day lilies in addition to other flowers with large petals. When it comes to day lilies though, you should be careful as many varieties are toxic to pollinators and animals that eat their pollen, so be careful!

4. Hybiscus:

Ducks love hybiscus flowers. However, they will not eat the whole plant, they will just stir it up a bit and leave it. This can be good if you want to get rid of your hybiscus.

5. Columbines:

Columbines are a favorite with ducks as well as bees and butterflies. These flowers are also edible for some people and taste similar to strawberries!

6. Iris:

Ducks do not seem to like iris very much, but bees on the other hand love them! With over 50 species of iris in North America alone, you are sure to have some near a duck pond (especially if you live in a wet area). If you have iris growing near your duck pond then be sure to plant more- your bees will thank you for it!

7. Violets: Violets may not be highly recommended for planting around duck ponds because of their spreading habits, but they do provide a great place for other flowers to grow.

8. Sunflowers:

Sunflowers are duck favorites as well as bees, butterflies, and birds. They are great for attracting bees and making top-bar hives more appealing to them.

Benefits of Eating Flowers For Ducks

There are many health benefits for them by eating flowers, including certain vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber. The fiber in flowers will help to keep your ducks’ digestive systems healthy and regular.

Benefits of Eating Flowers

Bee pollen is a good source of potassium. Potassium helps to regulate blood pressure, maintain bone density and elasticity of blood vessels; it’s also essential to muscle function and nervous system function

Vitamins: beneficial for the immune system; they also help with normal vision by acting as antioxidants in the body, they help their bodies produce hemoglobin, the protein that carries the oxygen in their blood 2.

Antioxidants: Flowers are rich in antioxidants, which help to prevent harm to their body’s cells. They can also help improve memory and promote general health.

Flowers are very good for exercising your ducks’ brain as well.

What Flowers Are Not Good For Ducks?

Not all flowers are good, or particularly healthy, for ducks, generally the ones not good for them, they will ignore for the most part, but anyway I advise to keep them away from:

-Milkweeds: A very common flower among backyard ponds, milkweeds are toxic to ducks. If a duck consumes them, it will have some health consequences

-Lilies: Lilies are beautiful flowers, but they have been known to cause internal problems in ducks.

-Poison hemlock: Poison hemlock grows in the garden, in places where it looks like it wouldn’t be hard to keep out of ducks’ reach.

Do Ducks Destroy Plants?

There is a possibility that your geese will ravage all the plants that they come across, yes!

But it’s not a guarantee, if they are placed in an open area they will probably eat the leaves and flowers, but they won’t go after the roots or the plants. But if they are confined in a closed space they might dig up the plants and do other damage.

Conclusion

Ducks can, and will eat flowers, they enjoy them and it can bring a good variety to their diet since they have a distinctive aroma and taste from the rest of their feed, they are also an healthy source of nutrients.