20 Omnivores Examples

Prominent examples of omnivores include bears, which eat berries, insects, fish and sometimes prey animals; chickens, that peck and scratch to consume grains, worms, and insects; crows that use their strong beaks to procure fruits, nuts, snails, eggs and even small vertebrates; raccoons with their dexterous paws that allow them to hunt prey as well as harvest fruits and vegetables; and foxes that use sharp teeth and claws to catch mice or rabbits but also eat berries off shrubs.

Examples of Omnivores

Here are 20 common Examples of Omnivores:

1. Raccoon

Scientific name: Procyon lotor

Diet: Plants, fruits, insects, fish, eggs, small animals

Raccoons have dexterous 5-fingered front paws with a flexible wrist joint that allows them to grasp and manipulate a variety of plant and animal foods, probing holes and opening containers to access fruits, grains, insects, eggs, and aquatic foods as omnivorous feeders.

2. Chicken

Scientific name: Gallus gallus domesticus

Diet: Grains, worms, insects

Chickens employ a pecking, scratching, and digging foraging behavior to seek out worms, insects, seeds, and vegetation on the ground, adaptations which allow them to consume a diverse omnivorous diet.

3. Bear

Scientific name: Ursidae

Diet: Plants, berries, fish, insects, mammals

Bears are equipped with an excellent sense of smell to sniff out varied plant and animal foods, paired with strong limbs, claws for digging, and a varied digestive system as adaptations to an omnivorous diet that includes plants, berries, fish, insects and mammals.

4. Crow

Scientific name: Corvus

Diet: Seeds, fruits, nuts, frogs, snails, worms

Crows use their sturdy beaks to probe soil and decaying wood seeking out insects, nuts, fruits and small animals, versatile behaviors showing their adaptation to an omnivorous and opportunistic diet. Their large brains allow complex social groups and observed tool use.

5. Fox

Scientific name: Vulpes

Diet: Small mammals, fruit, berries, insects

Foxes have a pointed muzzle, sharp teeth, and digestive tract suited for meat alongside berry-filled scat, allowing them to hunt small mammals as well as consume fruits adaptively as omnivores. Foxes use their large ears to hear low scratches of animals moving underground.

6. Pig

Scientific name: Sus scrofa domesticus

Diet: Grains, plants, small animals

Pigs employ snouts, sturdy builds, and rooting behaviors seeking plants, fungi, and small animals underground to procure an omnivorous diet. Despite misconceptions, pigs are highly trainable and known to be cleaner than cats and dogs.

7. Mouse

Scientific name: Mus musculus

Diet: Grains, fruits, insects

Mice evolved as omnivores able to nibble and live near human food storages containing grains, fruits, vegetables, and occasional proteins. Female mice reach reproductive maturity in 6-8 weeks of age, allowing up to 10 litters of 6 young per year.

8. Chipmunk

Scientific name: Tamias

Diet: Acorns, mushrooms, grains, baby birds

Chipmunks utilize sharp teeth to crack hard nuts and burrow underground seeking fungi, seeds, insects, and occasional eggs or nestlings as omnivorous feeders. Their expandable cheek pouches allow transport of up to 8 fruits or nuts for storage.

9. Opossum

Scientific name: Didelphidae

Diet: Insects, frogs, fruits, grains, eggs, carrion

Opossums possess 50 sharp teeth for consuming insects, reptiles, amphibians and carrion, paired with a grip-capable tail and opposable thumbs suited for gathering fruits, nuts, and vegetables as omnivorous foragers. They instinctually “play dead” when threatened.

10. Squirrel

Scientific name: Sciurus

Squirrels employ continually growing incisors to open hard nuts and fruits, nimble limbs for climbing, and stomachs to digest both meat and vegetation as key omnivore adaptations. Squirrels are prolific forgetters yet locate buried nuts and seeds by smell.

11. Magpie

Scientific name: Pica pica

Diet: Grains, berries, ticks, beetles, mammals, carrion

Magpies utilize adaptations like sturdy beaks for cracking into larva and nuts, nimble feet for gathering a wide variety of ground foods, and high intelligence allowing consumption of omnivorous diets plus complex social groups and self-recognition.

12. Human

Scientific name: Homo sapiens

Diet: Plants, animals

Humans employ highly dexterous appendages, diverse digestive systems aided by cooking techniques, and advanced brains allowing the fashioning & use of omnivore-adapting tools like fire, spears, and agriculture.

13. Mongoose

Scientific name: Herpestidae

Diet: Mammals, birds, reptiles, fruits, seeds, insects

Mongooses utilize quick reflexes, thick coats, and immunity boosting proteins to assist hunting reptiles and insects alongside safely gathering fruits, nuts, and eggs as omnivores often in hazardous environments like snake nests. They thrive from rainforests to deserts.

14. Raccoon Dog

Scientific name: Nyctereutes procyonoides

Diet: Amphibians, rodents, fruit, insects, carrion

Raccoon dogs exhibiting sharp claws and teeth, masked faces, thick fur, and rotating ankles allowing them to procure meat and nestling birds alongside fruits, nuts, eggs, and fungi adaptively as omnivores. They are monogamous mate pairers and store fat in the tail.

15. Coyote

Scientific name: Canis latrans

Diet: Mammals, insects, fruit, grass

Coyotes employ swift speeds up to 40 mph, keen eyesight, stealthy paws, rotating ankles, and varied digestive systems to hunt small mammals combined with gathering fruits, vegetables, and insects as highly adaptable omnivores. Alpha coyote pairs mate for life.

16. Brown Bear

Scientific name: Ursus arctos

Diet: Fish, rodents, grains, berries, roots, insects

Brown bears utilize large bodies, sense of smell up to 2 miles away, claw-tipped feet and muscular limbs to catch salmon alongside procuring berries, rodents, roots, grain, and insects as behavioral omnivore feeding adaptations. Most brown bears double their body weight prehibernation.

17. Tanuki

Scientific name: Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus

Diet: Small animals, fruit, seeds, insects

Tanukis possess sharp teeth and claws for capturing birds, rodents, reptiles, and insects alongside nimble bodies to climb into orchards and harvest fruits adaptively as omnivores. Their Japanese folklore depictions show them as mischievous, merrymaking shape shifters.

18. Otter

Scientific name: Lutrinae

Diet: Fish, amphibians, mammals, insects, berries

Otters have webbed feet, streamlined bodies, waterproof dense fur, long whiskers, sharp claws and crushing teeth allowing swift swimming to catch fish and harvest riverside plants and fruits as semiaquatic omnivorous foragers. Some use rock tools to break open clams and food caches.

19. Badger

Scientific name: Meles meles

Diet: Earthworms, insects, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, plants

Badgers employ shovel-like claws, muscular front limbs, and wedge-shaped heads to effectively dig into soil seeking worms, insects, reptiles, fungi and roots paired with fruit/nut gathering and limited scavenging as tenacious underground omnivores. Badger groups mark communal territory.

20. Deer

Scientific name: Cervidae

Diet: Birds eggs, fungi, occasionally scavenged meat

As ruminant herbivores, deer possess varied microbiome digestion, yet also occasionally exhibit omnivorous behaviors eating bird eggs, mushrooms, moss, or scavenged meat to supplement minerals and nutrients. Most male deer species regrow elaborate branched antlers annually.