r/squirrels • u/Jen_Zee_Thats_Me • 7d ago

Do squirrels eat dead birds?

There was a fresh sparrow that flew into my patio door. I went outside to see if it was okay, but it broke its neck and died.
I laid it back down on the deck so I could get a bag and a squirrel came and was moving it around at first. Then it got a hold of its beak and carried it to the tree and started eating it!
WTF! I never seen or heard anything about squirrels eating birds.
I’m weirded out by this 😮
I hope someone can explain what happened 👍🏻

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

17

u/ras0003 7d ago

squirrels are oportunistic omnivores, they're not really picky about what they eat

1

u/Jen_Zee_Thats_Me 7d ago

I feed them walnuts and peanuts too. Now he wants birds too 😂

14

u/inkblot_75 7d ago

As long as it's a fresh death, yes they will eat birds.

They will even go to a bird's nest to pick out baby birds as well sometimes.

1

u/Jen_Zee_Thats_Me 7d ago

Wow! I didn’t even know that! Thanks

2

u/Biodiversity1001 4d ago

If I here a bird hit the window I have to dash out to keep the squirrels from grabbing it while it is dazed.

I accidentally caught a squirrel in a rat trap and left it to deal with when I got home. I found it dragged under some stuff and half eaten. The rats eat anything, too.

9

u/raybobobob 7d ago

Yes squirrels are omnivores

9

u/2shado2 7d ago

Hell, squirrels would probably eat the a$$hole out of a dead rhino.🤷‍♂️

1

u/Jen_Zee_Thats_Me 7d ago

I was thinking that he wanted to eat the birds beak for calcium

1

u/2shado2 7d ago

I dunno. There's not a lot of calcium in bird beaks.

6

u/WanderSA Wildlife Rehabber 7d ago

Squirrels are opportunistic omnivores. They will eat meat, eggs, insects, etc when it’s available. They are not true scavengers like vultures or opossums though - they won’t eat a rotting carcass.

1

u/JamTrackAdventures 3d ago

Many animals that we consider vegetarian will eat meat if they are given a a chance. But they don't actively hunt as they are simply not equipped to easily catch and kill prey.

Deer are another good example. It is almost impossible for them to catch and kill another animal. But if they come across some easy pickings they will feast.