carnivore

herbivore

omnivore

an animal that only eats meat

an animal that only eats plants

an animal that eats both plants and meat

clown anemonefish

parrot fish

blue tang

killer whale (orca)

zebra

meerkat

albatross

rosy-faced lovebird

bluebird

American alligator

green iguana

green basilisk lizard

spotted salamander

cane toad

green treefrog tadpole

Blue Tangs Diet

Parrot Fishs Diet

Clown Anemonefishs Diet

It feeds on plankton (tiny animals) and algae (tiny plants).

Its diet consists primarily of algae extracted from chunks of coral ripped from a reef.

It feeds on plankton, mollusks, and crustaceans.

Meerkats Diet

Zebras Diet

Killer Whales Diet

It consumes mostly insects, spiders and other small animals, in addition to roots and plant bulbs.

It eats mostly grasses, and also small amounts of leaves and buds.

It feeds on many kinds of fish from herring to even sharks; it also eats seals, turtles, and birds.

Bluebirds Diet

Rosy-faced Lovebirds Diet

Albatrosss Diet

It drops to the ground to catch insects and grubs, but in the fall and winter it perches on branches and eats berries.

It feeds on berries and seeds. It can sometimes gather in flocks and feed on grain crops, such as millet.

It mostly eats squid and fish; it also follows fishing boats and scavenges offal (fish guts) thrown overboard.

Green Basilisk Lizards Diet

Green Iguanas Diet

American Alligators Diet

It feeds on insects, small rodents, smaller lizards, fruits, and flowers.

It eats leaves, shoots, flowers, and fruits.

Its diet consists of all kinds of animals that are in or near the water, including birds snatched from low branches.

Green Treefrog Tadpoles Diet

Its diet consists of algae and small plants. What happens with their diet when treefrogs reach adulthood?

Cane Toads Diet

It feeds on ants, termites, beetles, and other kinds of insects. It even eats other frogs.

Spotted Salamanders Diet

It hunts at night for worms, insects, spiders, slugs, and millipedes.

To help us keep track of different animals' diets, we've created names for animals that eat different foods. A few of them you probably already know. If an animal only eats plants, we call that animal an herbivore. If an animal only eats meat, then it's a carnivore. And if an animal eats both plants and meat, then it's known as an omnivore.

"To devour"
Did you notice that all three of those words have the same ending? The ending "-vore," or "-ivore," comes from the Latin word vorare, which means "to devour." (I'll bet you didn't know you could speak Latin!) So, by looking at the first part of the word, we can figure out what the animal is "devouring," or eating.

How about another word, like insectivore. Can you guess what an insectivore eats? Remember to look at the first part of the word. You guessed it! An insectivore, like the three-banded armadillo or the African hedgehog, eats insects! What about a nectarivore? Right again! A nectarivore, like some insects and bats, eats nectar. Sometimes these words can tell us more specifically what an animal eats. Remember the plant-eating herbivores? Well, some herbivores are folivores! Folivore refers to an animal that eats foliage, or leaves, like the douc langur. In other words, it eats a specific part of a plant.

A mouthful of names
Now that you're getting the hang of this, here's a list of some other kinds of animal diets. See if you can think of some animals that fit these descriptions! Piscivores: animals that eat fish. Sanguinivores: animals that drink blood. Frugivores: animals that eat fruit. Mucivores: insects that feed on plant juices. Humivores: organisms that feed on the dark brown part of soil that consists of decomposed plants and animals. Mycovore: organisms that eat fungi. Saprovores: animals that feed on dead or decaying matter. Detritovores: organisms (like bacteria or earthworms) that eat decomposing or nonliving material.

Parts of the Food Chain (Producers/Consumers...)

Producers
Plants are called producers. This is because they produce their own food! They do this by using light energy from the Sun, carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil to produce food - in the form of glucouse/sugar. The process is called photosynthesis. Click on the image below to learn about photosynthesis.

Consumers
Animals are called consumers. This is because they cannot make their own food, so they need to consume (eat) plants and/or animals. There are 3 groups of consumers. (Click on any to learn
more!)

Animals that eat only plants. Animals that eat only animals. Animals that eat both animals AND plants. Humans are also omnivores!

Decomposers
Bacteria and fungi are decomposers. They eat decaying matter - dead plants and animals and in the process they break them down and decompose them When that happens, they release nutrients and mineral salts back into the soil - which then will be used by plants! Click on the left-hand image to learn more.