Deadline for city ducks

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- Lock up your troughs and hide your water: Today’s the

day when the citywide restrictions on feeding ducks go into effect.

As of today, there’s no longer any such thing as a free lunch for

these birds. But first-time offenders caught serving them large

quantities of food and water will go free with just a warning, Assistant

City Manager Dave Kiff said.

“Hopefully, this will also give us a chance to get out and talk to

people about the ordinance,” Kiff said.

Code enforcement officers handing out the warnings will be armed with

literature about the consequences of large-scale feeding of waterfowl in

general and ducks in particular.

Water quality tops their list of concerns. Duck droppings contain

extremely high levels of the bacteria that cause beach closures and

postings. Ducks themselves carry bacteria such as salmonella, which poses

a small threat to humans who are exposed to the birds.

One of the biggest reasons behind the ordinance, though, can be seen

and smelled in places such as Grand Canal on Balboa Island, where daily

troughs of food and water set out for ducks have drawn flocks whose

consequences have been called “disgusting” and “unbearable” by some

neighbors.

Under the new ordinance, incidental feeding of the ducks, such as an

individual tossing pieces of bread, is permitted because it isn’t enough

to take away the birds’ incentive to migrate.

No doubt, it’s a dark day for ducks. But city officials insist that in

the long run, everyone -- including ducks -- will be better off.

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .