Heading down to the local park, pond or lake armed with a few slices of bread is a memory that is etched in many Kiwis memories.
For many, it's their first real one on one in nature, feeding bits of the bread to the birds.
But not too long ago, warnings came out around the world saying to stop feeding the birds bread as it was harmful for them and polluted their water.
But now, environmentalists in the UK are urging to people to get out there and start feeding bread to the ducks again after many of them are being found in poor health, or even deceased, after not eating enough food.
Posters have even been placed around ponds in the UK talling people that it is okay to feed bread to the birds.
The posters read:
Please feed us again, especially in the winter! Everyone has stopped feeding us because they wrongly think bread will make us poorly and now some of us are dying of starvation without your bread.
Yes, it’s not the healthiest for us but nothing in our bellies will kill us!
Even the Queen's official swan keeper David Barber insisted there is ‘no good reason’ not to feed the swans bread, given many are now underweight because of the ban.
"Swans have been fed bread for many hundreds of years without causing any ill effects."
"While bread may not be the best dietary option for swans compared to their natural food such as river weed, it has become a very important source of energy for them, supplementing their natural diet and helping them to survive the cold winter months when vegetation is very scarce."
"Most households have surplus bread and children have always enjoyed feeding swans with their parents."
