Some animals eat both plants and animals. These animals are called omnivores. Omnivores have varied diets that may include fruits, seeds, nuts, insects, eggs, fish, and small animals. Because they can eat many different kinds of food, omnivores are often able to survive in a wide variety of habitats and changing environments.
Omnivores include mammals such as the brown bear, striped skunk, and raccoon, and birds such as the American crow, the blue jay, and the downy woodpecker.
Because they eat plants and animals, omnivores thrive in many environments.
Because they eat both plants and animals, omnivores can survive in many different environments. Their varied diets make them highly adaptable and able to find food in forests, grasslands, wetlands, cities, and suburbs.
Some omnivores, such as the raccoon, the opossum, and the herring gull, easily adjust to living near humans. They often search through garbage cans, dumpsters, gardens, and parks for food.
This ability to eat many different kinds of food helps omnivores survive even when their environment changes.
A Kodiak bear in Alaska enjoys some greens.
What did you eat today? If you are like most people, you probably ate both plants and meat. Humans are omnivores, which means we eat many different kinds of foods, including plants and animals.
Our teeth are specially designed to help us eat both types of food. The sharp front teeth, called incisors and canines, help us bite into food and tear meat. The flat teeth in the back of our mouths, called molars, help us grind and chew foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and meat.
Many other omnivorous animals, such as black bears, raccoons, and pigs, also have different kinds of teeth that help them eat a wide variety of foods.
Most of the black bear's diet consists of plants.
Black bears, polar bears, and brown bears are members of the Carnivora order, but they are omnivores.
Most of the black bear’s diet consists of plants. In the summer months, it eats grasses, herbs, sedges, fruits, berries, and nuts. It also eats insects. Black bears don’t hunt for meat, but if they happen to come across carrion (a dead animal), they will eat it.
The brown bear eats berries, roots, fungi, grasses, fish, carrion, small mammals, and insects. Unlike the black bear, the brown bear is a hunter. It is very good at catching fish and often uses its long claws to dig insects out of rotting logs and small mammals out of their burrows. Some brown bears in the Canadian Rockies hunt larger animals like moose and elk.
The primary food source for the polar bear is seals. It also eats fish, seabirds, and sometimes, caribou. In the summer, it also eats berries and other plant parts.
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