WHAT EATS BIRDS?

A Scarlet Tanager
What Eats Birds? Photo:USFWS

What eats a bird?

What do birds eat?

There are thousands of kinds, or species of birds in the world, and all but the largest eagles and condors have predators.

Birds are attacked and eaten by other birds, including falcons, owls and eagles. Different kinds of serpents and other reptiles kill adult and baby birds alike. Four-legged predators such as bobcats and weasels are bird-eaters.

In America alone, domestic house cats may be responsible for killing as many as 500,000,000 wild birds a year.

In some of the world’s rain forests, there are frogs and tarantulas so big that they sometimes eat birds!

Of course, people also eat birds—our favorites are different types of poultry.

And, what do birds eat? There are thousands of species of birds, and they all eat different things. Many eat insects, others eat seeds or fruits. Some kill and eat fish, other birds, or small animals.

Photo of author

Gordon Ramel

Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oh - and he wrote this website.