There are many types of birds that eat ants. Ants can be found in most regions and climates around the world, so it is no surprise that they would be a common food source for some species of birds. In this article we will explore 18 Birds That Eat Ants with Photos, ID & Information about each one.
Table of Contents
- 1 House Wren
- 2 Carolina Wren
- 3 Cedar Waxwing
- 4 Downy Woodpecker
- 5 Pileated Woodpecker
- 6 European Green Woodpecker
- 7 Northern Flicker
- 8 Common Starling
- 9 Gray Catbird
- 10 American Crow
- 11 Common Raven
- 12 Song Sparrow
- 13 American Robin
- 14 Northern Cardinal
- 15 White-breasted Nuthatch
- 16 Red-breasted Nuthatch
- 17 Black-capped Chickadee
- 18 Eastern Bluebird
House Wren
House Wrens are small, brown songbirds that live in North America. They can be found all over the United States and Canada. Ants make up a large part of their diet during summer months. House wrens also will consume spiders, beetles, crickets and other insects in addition to occasional small vertebrates like earthworms or salamanders.
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Carolina Wren
The Carolina Wren is a small songbird that resides in the eastern United States. They are very opportunistic feeders that eat insects, berries, eggs of other bird species, seeds from weed flowers or trees. One of the most popular foods for these birds to eat is ants. Ants make a great meal for Carolina wren birds because they can find them anywhere.
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar waxwings are a type of bird that live throughout North America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. They can be found in gardens, orchards and fields. They are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. These birds mainly eat insects such as ants and fruit during the summer months, but they also have been known to feed on berries, grapes, juniper berries, rose hips, and tree sap.
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Downy Woodpecker
The Downy Woodpecker is a common omnivorous bird in North America. The diet of the woodpecker includes beetle larvae, chiseled out of tree bark and insects such as ants, arthropods, fruits, seeds, and sap. The woodpecker has an adaptation called “chisel-bill” which is unique to this type of bird. This bill allows it to probe into small holes in trees where the larvae live and eat them for their food source.
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Pileated Woodpecker
The Pileated woodpecker is a large North American bird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests across the continent. Their diet consists of mainly carpenter ants, supplemented by other insects such as beetles and wasps. They also eat some plant material such as seeds and berries. Pileated woodpeckers have strong bills for pecking into trees to find their prey, as well as long tongues for extracting it from deep crevices in tree bark.
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European Green Woodpecker
The green woodpecker is one of the most common birds in Europe. They are often seen foraging on tree trunks and pecking at bark, usually for ants. It was discovered that more than 60% of their diet consisted of ants, with an average consumption rate around 1 ant per minute. The rest of their diet consists mostly of other insects like flies and spiders, as well as berries and seeds when they can find them.
Northern Flicker
The Northern Flicker Range is a species of bird that inhabits the Western United States. It ranges from California to Montana and into Canada. They are found in many habitats, but mainly live in forested areas or on agricultural land. The flickers are most commonly seen searching for food along forest edges or walking on the ground near fallen trees. These birds are insectivores that feed mainly on ants, termites, beetles, spiders and other invertebrates.
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Common Starling
The Common Starling, or European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), is a medium-sized passerine bird in the family Sturnidae. It is native to Europe and Asia and has been introduced to North America. Common Starlings feed on many insects such as ants, beetles, crickets, and earthworms among others.
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Gray Catbird
Gray catbirds, a common songbird in North America, can be seen and heard at backyard bird feeders. They will usually eat many types of seeds and nuts that people offer them, but they also have been known to indulge in insects such as ants during the summer months. The gray catbird is not picky when it comes to what he eats — from small insects like ants to fruits and berries — this gray-feathered bird eats anything!
American Crow
Crows are one of the most common birds in North America. Crows eat a variety of foods, including insects such as ants. In some areas, crows have been observed eating small animals such as rodents and frogs. In order to find food for themselves and their families, crows will scavenge on any animal carcasses they can find. When no food is available nearby, they will even steal from other animals or humans!
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Common Raven
Common ravens are intelligent birds that live in many parts of the world. The diet of these birds includes various insects, including ants such as the leaf cutter and the fire ant. They consume ant larvae and pupae when they are still alive, but also eat dead ants after their soft tissues have decomposed. Ants provide a high-energy meal for ravens because they can be found in abundance in most environments with plants or trees where the Common Raven lives.
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Song Sparrow
Song sparrows are one of the most common birds in North America. They eat many insects, especially in summer when there is a high insect population. The song sparrow will consume any prey that is easy to catch and doesn’t move quickly, which includes ants. Ants also provide nutrients for song sparrows because they have high levels of protein and fat content.
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American Robin
The American Robin is a bird that can be found all over North America. These birds are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. Their diet consists of insects such as ants, spiders, beetles, grasshoppers, termites, crickets, worms and small reptiles. They also eat amphibians like frogs and toads.
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Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinals are a type of bird that is found in North America. They usually eat seeds, berries, and insects like ants during breeding season. Ants are rich in protein and fat, which can help sustain them through long periods of reproduction, as well as provide more energy for mating displays or territorial defense. Birds that consume ants typically do so opportunistically when they find them by hunting around tree trunks or near ant nests.
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White-breasted Nuthatch
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a common bird that inhabits North America. They are most commonly found in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, where they live year round. They mainly eat insects and spiders during summer months but will modify their diet with seeds during winter. One way they find these ants is by looking for the straight trails on trees or logs which indicate an ant colony below it. Once they have found this trail, they can simply pluck them out.
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Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatches are small birds that live in North America. They can be found throughout most of the continent and nest in tree cavities, crevices, and sometimes even holes in buildings. Red-breasted Nuthatches mainly eat insects during summer months such as beetles, ants, flies, moths, caterpillars, wasps. In wintertime, they will also eat seeds from berries or nuts from trees. Nuthatches build nests by tunneling into tree trunks or branches of evergreen trees.
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadees are one of the most common birds in North America. They range from the northern reaches of Canada to South Carolina and Florida, but they prefer more temperate climates than extreme southern states. The Black-capped Chickadee is found in areas with dense deciduous or mixed forest habitats, although it may be seen on urban street trees. Their diet consists mainly of insects such as caterpillars, ants, spiders, weevils, lice, sawflies, and beetles; their favorite foods include sunflower seeds, suet, peanuts, and some fruit.
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Eastern Bluebird
Eastern bluebirds are found throughout the eastern United States and most of Canada. They primarily live in woodlands, but can also be found in parks, gardens and suburban areas. Eastern bluebirds eat a variety of foods such as insects such as ants, spiders, berries and seeds. The range for Eastern Bluebirds is wide-reaching across the east coast from Maine to Florida, with small populations that can be found on occasion into South Carolina or Tennessee.
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