I'm going to a wedding and was planning to throw birdseed at the bride and groom because I've heard that you should not throw rice. They say the dry rice expands inside the stomachs of little birds that eat it, and the birds can even pop! Is this true?

-- Margaret L., Talent

Yes, Margaret. And babies are brought by the stork, and the phoenix rises from the ashes, and four and 20 blackbirds were baked in a pie.

But no. The old exploding-birds-on-rice story is an urban myth rather like the one about hummingbirds hitching rides on the back of migrating geese (we'd like to see a typical hummer share with other hummers, let alone a goose).

We don't know where the birds/rice story came from, but we know that syndicated columnist Ann Landers was among those guilty of perpetuating it.

The executive director of the ugly rumors division at the Since You Asked International Institute of Ornithology says he often drives by the rice fields in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. He has not yet had to turn on the wipers due to the remains of exploding birds raining down.

Further, raw rice works much better at weddings than cooked rice, which is messy. That said, we think that bird seed or flower petals or even soap bubbles are nice alternatives.

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