Myth Busting Monday - Birds & Rice Don't Mix

MYTH: Birds and rice don't mix

Growing up in southern California I went to the beach all the time during summer vacation, and every time I would see a seagull fly by I would wonder to myself what would happen if I brought some rice with me and feed it to the birds. So I have always wondered about this myth.

This is a great quote about birds and rice from livescience.com:

Nothing spoils a wedding celebration like the thought of exploding pigeons. Nuptial guests have been cautioned against throwing handfuls of rice at newlyweds for this very reason, but there is absolutely no scientific backing to the legend. Experts say birds can ingest uncooked rice just fine, with no risk of blowing up. Hmm. Some people might say using love to lose a few pigeons is a perfectly splendid idea.[source]

Here is another great quote concerning 'exploding' birds:

Not true. If it were, there would be exploding bird stories all over the national press every June. Think about it. Lots of birds feast in rice fields every year, irritating rice farmers to distraction. If eating rice caused birds to explode, most rice fields would look like a popcorn machine in the harvest season, with little puffs and explosions providing constant entertainment. Quite a vision, and one that the press would never miss.[source]

The bird watchers digest always discusses another bird exploding myth; this one involves seagulls and Alka Seltzer:

If it were true, it would be a big story. I can see the coverage now: Dan Rather in his safari jacket, standing on the windswept coast, hair blowing in the wind, gull feathers raining down in the background; PBS specials (who can resist the vision of a gull, cheerfully flying along and then suddenly exploding, right in front of the camera?)

In researching this myth I found that there are a lot of supporters for both sides of this myth but looking to the urban legend explaining site snopes.com has reported that both of these exploding birds myths are false. So I fell that that can be the final word on that.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

Technorati tags: birds, rice, alka, seltzer, exploding

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