15 Well-Known Animals That Are Omnivores

An omnivore is an animal that consumes both plant and animal material. Humans are the most well-known omnivores because we obtain energy from plants and animals.

Hamburgers are one of the best examples of an omnivorous diet. They contain beef but also tomatoes and lettuce.

But humans also differ from most animals due to each individual’s ability to decide their own diet. And omnivorous animals can also be placed into sub-categories. For instance, some species primarily eat fruit, while others mainly consume insects, supplementing with seeds and grains. Discover 15 well-known animals that are omnivores and learn about their unique diets.

Pigs

Pigs are naturally omnivores. In the wild, they spend much of their time foraging for plants, like bulbs, leaves, and roots. But they will also eat insects, worms, rodents, rabbits, small reptiles, and amphibians. On occasion, they can even eat carrion (dead animals). But many pigs live on farms, where they are fed a diet of corn, soy, wheat, and barley. Those raised in captivity don’t have to worry too much about finding food. But on their own, they rely on their keen sense of smell, using their snout to root around for the nearest food source.

Bears

For such a big creature, you would think a bear would be a monstrous carnivore. But they are actually omnivores. And surprisingly, 80 to 90% of their diet consists of plant matter. They eat berries, nuts, grasses, shoots, leaves, and grains. But they also consume fish, insects, birds, small mammals, deer, moose, and carcasses. They have a well-developed sense of smell and use their noses to find a food source. They especially like to search for pockets of greenery, such as wet meadows, areas along rivers and streams, or even golf courses!

Raccoons

Raccoons are opportunistic omnivores, meaning they will eat whatever is available and convenient. They consume many items, such as fruits, nuts, insects, fish, grains, rodents, small mammals, birds, turtles, eggs, and carrion. They are also notorious for rooting around residential and city trash cans, eating everything from spoiled human food to the rats running around the dumpster. However, these animals prefer living next to a water source, where they can easily dine on fish, insects, and amphibians.

Coyotes

Similar to raccoons, coyotes will eat just about anything. These omnivores consume a large variety of foods, including insects, rabbits, deer, garden produce, amphibians, fish, reptiles, birds, sheep, bison, moose, and even the carcasses of other coyotes. While they are technically omnivorous, about 90% of their diet consists of meat. The other 10% goes to foraging for fruits, grasses, vegetables, and grains. They hunt alone and stalk their prey when along. But they hunt in packs to take down larger animals like deer.

Chipmunks

Chipmunks are widely known for their propensity to consume large quantities of nuts, storing them in their big, round cheeks. But they actually have a varied diet. The chipmunk eats nuts, seeds, grains, leaves, mushrooms, fruits, slugs, worms, insects, snails, butterflies, frogs, mice, birds, and eggs. They search for food on the ground by carefully combing underbrush, rocks, and logs. These areas also provide protection from predators, so they can search for food uninterrupted.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches are another animal that will eat pretty much anything, which is why they are one of the most common household pests. Their favorite foods are starchy, sweet, or greasy, but they will settle for whatever is lying around. Cockroaches eat rotting fruit and vegetables, any kind of meat, dead leaves, twigs, feces, and anything with sugar and starch. Roaches, in the absence of regular food, will also consume paper, hair, and decaying plants.

Crows

Around one-third of a crow’s diet comes from seeds and fruits. But they are not picky eaters and will consume what is readily available. They eat rodents, baby birds, eggs, small reptiles, insects, amphibians, seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, and carrion. Crows use their olfactory system, like many animals, to find food. But they are also extremely resourceful and can use tools, like sticks, to seek food. They may even wade in the water to snatch swimming prey.

Monkeys

Most monkeys are omnivores that spend much of their time foraging for a variety of foods. Contrary to what cartoons depict, monkeys don’t only eat bananas. They also eat other fruits, leaves, nuts, seeds, flowers, insects, grass, birds, antelope , and rabbits. They forage in trees for vegetation and termites, using sticks or their dexterous hands to hold tools and grip food. They can also hunt and kill larger prey, using their muscular arms and sharp teeth.

Ostriches

Ostriches primarily eat plant matter but will also consume animals. Their diet consists of seeds, roots, plants, fruits, beans, insects, lizards, snakes, rodents, carrion, and other small creatures. They also swallow pebbles and small stones to aid in digestion. They live mainly on vegetation, foraging around their habitats. But they will eat animals that come across their path. They use their large feet with sharp, thick claws to capture and kill their prey.

Turtles

Turtles and tortoises in the wild eat a varied omnivorous diet. They consume fruit, leafy greens, fungi, grains, insects, snails, slugs, worms, amphibians, fish, crustaceans, and aquatic vegetation. Turtles have an excellent sense of smell and can feel vibrations and changes in the water to help them find food. As they move slowly through their habitats, they forage on the vegetation and animals around them.

Badgers

While badgers are considered omnivores, 80% of their diet is comprised of earthworms . These feisty mammals can eat hundreds of earthworms in one night. But they also eat rodents, fruits, bulbs, snakes, slugs, insects, frogs, lizards, seeds, berries, and bird’s eggs. Badgers use their long, sharp claws to dig up worms, rodents, and insects. They may even plug up rodent holes to force them out of hiding.

Catfishes

The catfish is an opportunistic feeder, eating anything big enough to fit in its wide mouth. They primarily consume other fish, aquatic plants, seeds, mollusks, larvae, insects, crustaceans, algae, frogs, and dead fish remains. Catfish find food through smells and vibrations in the water. Once they get near a food source, they move their whiskers back and forth until they touch something. They then open their mouths wide and suction their prey inside.

Civets

Civets are small nocturnal mammals native to tropical rainforests in Asia and Africa . Like most wild omnivores, the civet eats whatever it can find. Their main diet includes rodents, lizards, birds, eggs, carrion, snakes, frogs, crabs, insects, fruits, flowers, coffee beans, and vegetation. They hunt and forage at night. They stalk their prey before pouncing and shaking it until it’s subdued.

Peacocks

The peacock, or peafowl, forages for a variety of food on the ground. They eat insects, grains, plants, reptiles, berries, seeds, flowers, fruits, and small mammals. In captivity, they eat commercial pheasant pellets. Peafowl has excellent vision and hearing, which they use to locate their food source on the ground before using their beak to pluck vegetation or capture animals.

Rats

Fruits and berries are a rat’s favorite food. They are often attracted to berry bushes and fruit trees. But they also consume seeds, nuts, grains, vegetables, insects, small mammals, lizards, and fish. Rats follow their noses to find a food source, and they are very good at it, even sniffing food through walls and closed doors. You can often find city rats near or inside dumpsters, where they feed on rotting food.

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