Do Squirrels Eat Bird Eggs? Fun Facts About The Opportunist Omnivores

Squirrels are opportunistic eaters, which means these little creatures adapt to eat a wide variety of available foods such as insects, eggs, fungi, and meat.

Squirrels are medium-sized rodents belonging to the Sciuridae family. It's incredible to watch these playful little creatures having fun on garden trees.

January 21 is celebrated as National Squirrel Day. You might be surprised to learn how squirrels help look after the environment. Squirrels are notorious for taking any chance they can get to steal food from bird feeders in residential gardens.

Anyone who has a garden with lush green trees and a bird feeder will probably get a chance to watch adorable squirrels roaming and running here and there with quick, spontaneous movements. These lovely creatures have a long, soft-furred tail that attracts people's eyes during their fast, acrobatic jumps.

Like ants, squirrels have a habit of storing food in bulk.

They store many nuts and seeds in the ground by digging burrows, but they forget to take them all from underground later, which indirectly helps increase the growth of trees and vegetation in the forests. This means they play a vital role in increasing the greenery in their surroundings.

However, squirrel species are known to be significant predators of birds' nests and can kill young birds. Especially when birds are in the nestling or egg phase, they are at high risk from these rodents.

Squirrels are not hunters; they look for an opportunity and work out their plan. They are clever watchers and keep an eye out for times when an adult bird is out hunting.

Then, they execute their plan and steal the eggs from the unguarded bird's nest. They make sure to play it safe when stealing eggs. On the other hand, we should remember that killing birds and stealing their eggs is not the first choice of food for these adorable little creatures.

When they have no other food source, they choose to become nest robbers. They are also very active animals, so they need nutritious food to boost their energy.

That's why they opt for bird eggs and other meaty foods. Most squirrel species are opportunistic hunters and attack the nests of different birds, eating baby birds and, very rarely, adult birds.

If you like this article about these little squirrels, take a look at our other content to find out if squirrels eat birds and if squirrels eat meat.

Do squirrels attack birds?

Squirrels are good at digging holes, and they tend to store food like seeds in multiple locations. They do this not only in winter but all year round.

They are very intelligent rodents who dig fake holes to divert predators and safeguard their natural food reserves, like nuts and seeds. Squirrels are opportunistic animals that like to eat birds' eggs and are seen stealing chickens' eggs if available.

As eggshells are rich in calcium, they also make a nutritious food source for the squirrel. The egg is also rich in protein and other vitamins, making it a desirable food for squirrels.

The main aim of these squirrel species is to survive whatever situation they may face. This means a squirrel will usually try its best to grab and accumulate food.

A squirrel's diet typically includes mushrooms, corn, fruits like apples and oranges, and nuts like walnuts and peanuts. Apart from their typical diet, squirrels eat foods like eggs, and dead or hurt birds.

When they run out of food like nuts and seeds and feel hungry, they are not picky about their food and eat any food that's available. They often eat plants, but their front teeth enable them to bite small birds as well, even though this isn't part of their typical diet.

Squirrels are not active nest hunters who attack bird nests all the time, but they are opportunistic omnivores who forage on a large quantity of food. They attack and feed on unguarded baby birds and injured birds when their favorite foods are scarce.

The horrible truth is, they're nest robbers and can often attack young birds.

Although squirrels generally don't attack full-grown birds, gray squirrels can be destructive nest raiders who attack and kill even mother birds and other squirrel species.

Apart from birds, they also feed on snakes and rats. According to the British Trust for Ornithology, gray squirrels are the main predator that attacks the nests of woodland birds such as robins, reducing their population by destroying the birds' eggs.

How many species of squirrels are there?

Squirrels are exceptional climbers and are found everywhere, from woodlands to local gardens and parks. Squirrels naturally live almost all over the world except in Australia and Antarctica. They are commonly found in countries across Africa, America, and Eurasia and were introduced into Australia by humans. A group of squirrels is called a scurry.

Most squirrels like to live a solitary life, although some species don't. Let's find out about the different species of squirrels. And also, do they steal eggs and eat bird eggs?

There are many genera of squirrels and 285 squirrel species. Among them are tree squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, ground squirrels, red squirrels, prairie dogs, and black squirrels. Gray squirrels and fox squirrels are the most common species in the US.

Tree squirrel species are commonly just called squirrels. They are arboreal species that are mostly seen on trees.

The most well-known genus of squirrels, tree squirrels, includes the eastern gray squirrel (North America), red squirrel (Eurasia), and Northern American fox squirrel. Tree nuts are the primary source of food for tree squirrels. Many tree squirrels have adapted themselves well to rural and urban areas and city parks and gardens.

Red squirrels are carnivorous. They spend most of the daytime searching for food. They destroy nests and eat young birds and bird eggs. In short, they are nest robbers; they steal the eggs of birds.

Flying squirrels are found chiefly in deciduous forests and woodland, where greenery and trees are abundant. These creatures feed on fruits, nuts, and vegetation which are abundant in the woods. Being opportunistic eaters, these squirrels also eat bird eggs, birds, insects, and other small creatures.

Ground squirrels, unlike tree squirrels and flying squirrels, like to live on the ground. For medium-sized squirrels, the term ground squirrel is used.

Larger ground squirrels are called marmots or prairie dogs, whereas smaller, less bushy-tailed squirrels are referred to as chipmunks. They are famous for raising their hind legs when they sense danger.

Like other squirrels, they are fond of nuts, seeds, and fungi, feed on small insects and frogs, and are good hunters who attack nests, steal eggs, and eat baby birds.

How to protect your pet bird from squirrels?

People often think that adult birds will safeguard the young chicks and the eggs. But that isn't always true.

When snakes or rodents like chipmunks and squirrels enter the nest, some species of adult birds leave the nest, and the baby birds become the victims of predators. It is always important to take safety precautions to keep your pet birds safe from squirrels. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing your pet because of these nest robbers.

Squirrel species are the hungriest rodents and have even been culprits in stealing chicken eggs.

They can be so hungry for an egg meal that they'll eat through the wood of chicken coops for the sake of chicken eggs.

It's advisable to regularly collect the eggs from your chicken coop and have a cat or dog on patrol to keep the coop safe rather than setting up an electric fence that might harm other innocent creatures. Apart from chicken eggs, squirrels also prey on duck eggs.

As ducks lay eggs in a secret place, it can be difficult to find them, and as the mother duck is always busy safeguarding the eggs, it is often difficult for hungry squirrels to attack the duck's nest.

To protect pet birds from squirrels, nesting boxes should be kept high up, at least 8 ft (2.4 m) from the ground, so that predators like snakes and squirrels can't reach bird eggs and young birds.

Make sure the nest is far from other branches and fencing because there is a chance that squirrels may hide in the bushes waiting to attack.

Hanging bird feeders should be placed away from the tree trunk to avoid squirrels jumping from the tree onto the feeders.

Are squirrels scavengers?

What are scavengers? Any animals or birds that feed on decaying or dead plants or carrion are called scavengers. Now the current topic is if squirrels are scavengers? Let's find out some interesting facts about these critters.

Squirrels are excellent scavengers who can detect food sources even beneath heavy snow. The smart squirrels can reach beneath the snow through tunnels to grab food that is covered with heavy snow.

Nature is full of surprising facts. It's hard to imagine these lovely creatures as scavengers, but squirrels do scavenge and sometimes depend on meat from the carcasses of animals and birds.

To continue exploring their place in the food chain, squirrels also behave as predators to survive in extreme environments. Although they aren't predators by nature, certain conditions like seasons, climate, the reproduction process, weather, and the availability of plant-based foods sometimes force them to become scavengers.

Female squirrels need better nutrients and more vitamins while reproducing, and animal meat is a good source compared to plant sources. Plant-based foods can be scarce during the spring and summer, so they attack birds' nests and eat baby birds, bird eggs, and injured or dead birds.

In the absence of these sources, they are sometimes forced to depend on the carrion of other animals. Snakes tend to attack baby ground squirrels.

So, in safeguarding the baby squirrels (called kittens), the mother will fight and kill these snakes and later eat them.

This is just a coincidence that happens while keeping the kittens safe. There are also instances where older male squirrels kill baby red squirrels, but the real reason is not a shortage of food.

The female squirrel generally mates with more than one male squirrel to have more than one litter. Sometimes the male will not know which of the baby squirrels are his and can end up eating the kittens of other male squirrels.

Squirrels are not natural hunters but just opportunistic omnivores who will take chances on injured animals and birds. They'll try their best to survive in every possible habitat.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for do squirrels eat bird eggs? Fun facts about the opportunist omnivores, then why not take a look at do squirrels hibernate in the winter? Or do squirrels have rabies?