If you have been in Oxford city centre lately, you may have spotted a number of webbed-footed creatures wandering about Cornmarket.

Mallard ducks often make an appearance in the city centre, with locals and tourists alike stopping to take pictures of the unusual - but very cute - visitors.  

A Reddit thread was even created to discuss the presence of the ducks in Oxford city centre last year, with one Reddit user joking that the birds headed to Cornmarket for a Greggs.

READ MORE: Cheeky squirrel snapped making off with bird feeder 

Oxford Mail: Picture: Oxford City CouncilPicture: Oxford City Council

In June 2020, Oxford City Council posted a picture of the ducks on Facebook, which the council called Mr and Mrs Chris P Duck, ‘social distancing’.

As the city centre is a relative distance from any large bodies of water, many people have questioned why the ducks can be spotted wandering about.

To answer this query, the Oxford Mail approached Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT).

Debbie Lewis, head of ecology at BBOWT, said: “The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is the commonest UK duck, and often found on city-centre canals and rivers, urban parks and ponds, and occasionally some distance from water.

“In Oxford we are lucky to have the Thames, the Cherwell and several other watercourses running through the city, as well as numerous green spaces providing plenty of habitat for mallards and other wildlife.

Oxford Mail: The ducks in the city centre in June 2022The ducks in the city centre in June 2022

“In the wild, these ducks eat plants, seeds, insects and shellfish, however they will also eat many human foods if given the chance, such as bread or cooked potato, which are not particularly good for them.

“In an urban environment, mallards will eat scraps of human food from the ground, and might travel some distance from water in search of food. While the vast majority of people will happily give these ducks a wide berth and not disturb them, the traffic in a city centre obviously makes it a more dangerous environment.

“As a Trust, we want to see more nature everywhere, but we need to achieve that in a sustainable way: we would encourage people to feed ducks and other wildfowl in more natural environments with foods that are nutritional and safe. Instead of bread, which is not particularly nutritional for ducks, try giving them seeds, oats, sweetcorn, rice (cooked or uncooked) or lettuce. Avoid crisps or other salty snacks, breakfast cereals and citrus fruits, none of which are good for mallards.

“If you would like to help ducks and other local wildlife, or attract more of it to your garden, see the BBOWT actions page for loads of ideas: bbowt.org.uk/actions.”

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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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