DEAR JOAN: I often see well-meaning people feeding bread to ducks and geese in the canals around Dublin where I walk and bike. I know it is not healthful for the birds, but as I was trying to imagine alternatives, I've come to wonder if I could get rid of past-their-prime herbs that way.

Whenever I have a recipe calling for fresh cilantro or basil or dill, I always end up with more than I can use. Would my leftover herbs be OK to feed to the wildfowl?

Jean O.

Dublin

DEAR JEAN: I don't know if they will eat them -- there are conflicting beliefs on this issue, depending on the herb and the

fowl -- but herbs shouldn't hurt them. Geese like grasses and land-based plants while ducks prefer aquatic plants. But they tend to eat many things that are offered to them, and the herbs are far superior to bread, crackers, chips and the like.

But your question raises a bigger issue of whether we should be feeding the ducks and geese at all. Ducks and geese are perfectly able to find their own food, even in winter, and don't need us to supplement their diets. Feeding them can make them aggressive and create large, overpopulated flocks; feeding them the wrong things can create health problems for the birds and the environment; and feeding them too much may result in a nasty excrement problem.

A few handfuls

of herbs or cracked corn, chopped greens or vegetable trimmings every now and then probably won't hurt. Just don't overdo it.

DEAR JOAN: My husband and I awoke to find our lower lawn area covered with feathers. There were about a dozen that measured 13-plus inches and many white, smaller downy feathers.

My questions are: (1) What type of bird was this? And (2) What predator might be responsible? We live in the Woodlands in Walnut Creek and our yard is very large and backs up to Ygnacio Valley Road. We have often seen raccoons, opossums, skunks and a bobcats in our yard, and we are only a block away from an entrance to the Contra Costa Canal Trail.

Any answers you might be able to suggest would be appreciated. We were very sad to see the evidence of the destruction of this once beautiful bird.

Sharon Nelson

Walnut Creek

DEAR SHARON: I thought the feathers might be from a hawk, but I checked with Susan Heckly, wildlife rehabilitation director at Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. She identified it as an owl.

Owls have a few natural enemies, but my guess is that it was injured, dying or dead when something else -- dog or coyote, perhaps -- got to it. As I wrote a few weeks ago, owls are at risk of unintentional poisoning by the use of gopher and rat baits. If the owl ate a rat that had been poisoned, the poison would be passed onto the owl. Whatever ate the owl would be at risk, too.

If you find an intact dead bird, you should call the state's West Nile Virus Hotline, 877-968-2473. If they won't collect it, you can take it to Lindsay. When you've got just parts of the bird, Heckly recommends donning gloves, putting the remains in a plastic bag and putting it in the garbage.

Helping wildlife

If you are interested in training to become a Lindsay Wildlife Museum hospital volunteer, "Introduction to Wildlife Rehabilitation" is being offered Jan. 29. There won't be another class until fall.

For details, go to www.wildlife-museum.org or call the museum at 925-935-1978.

Contact Joan Morris at jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com; or P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596.