19 Birds That Eat Dead Animals (Inc. Awesome Photos)

When most people think of birds, the image that comes to mind is a friendly little songbird that’s hopping around, pecking at seeds, and clearing your beloved plants of caterpillars and other insects.

But, there’s another altogether sinister side to some bird species!

In this article, we’ll look at 19 birds that eat dead animals.

From those that you might already know such as the famous vulture, to some unexpected birds that may frequent your backyard on a regular basis.

Vultures

Let’s start with the one that everyone knows. Vultures are famed for their feeding habits, pecking away at dead animals that have either died of natural causes or are the remnants of a successful large cat hunt. 

These scavengers will feed on pretty much anything they can find. Rodents, amphibians, reptiles, and carrion are all on the menu.

They’ll also eat fruit, garbage, and practically everything else. 

Vultures use their keen sense of smell to find their food and, once located, they’ll use their razor-sharp talons and bills to cut through the meat and devour it. 

Kites

Much like Vultures, Kites are scavengers and not hunters. They’re usually found circling fields or large open areas where they’ve spotted a dead animal with their incredible eyesight.

This could be something as small as a mouse or invertebrate – their eyesight really is that powerful!

Once spotted, the Kite will swoop down and grab the dead animal in its talons. It won’t, however, eat it where it finds it.

Instead, it will carry it back to its nest and feed on it there. They will also occasionally leave their finds in their nest and go out to find more, particularly if they are raising a young brood. 

When times are particularly tough, Kites have been known to go scavenging together, which is why you may see more than one at a time circling the air above an open plain. 

Ravens

Ravens have been associated with death for centuries, and they are also famously known for being the guard-bird of The Tower of London.

They aren’t exclusive to any country though, and can be found all over the world and in every habitat, from the Arctic Tundra to the Sahara Desert. 

Raven’s are primarily hunters, and their diets consist of frogs, rodents, lizards, and insects. They’ll also raid a smaller birds nest to eat the eggs they’re raising, and they won’t turn away carrion or garbage either.

This makes them a pretty opportunistic feeder, with no real concerns about where their food comes from. 

These beautiful, jet black birds have an extremely strong beak that is perfect for ripping chunks of flesh from their kill.

They also have very sharp claws that make tearing into the animal they’re devouring super easy, and they’re especially useful for cutting through the rotting flesh of carrion as if it were butter.

Condors

These large birds of prey are native to both North and South America and they can be identified by their black bodies with rust-orange markings and red, featherless head.

They also have large, bare feet and each toe is topped with a deadly talon!

When we say these birds are large, we aren’t joking. Condors can have a wingspan of up to 10 feet across.

They also have large, keen eyes that can help them spot carrion from miles away, as well an incredible sense of smell that allows them to easily pick up the scent of decaying flesh in the air. 

Despite being so well-equipped for hunting, Condors mostly eat carrion and they can often be seen feasting on roadkill at the side of busy highways.

They’ll eat their find directly where they found it, using their large beaks to tear pieces off and swallow them whole. 

Skua Goals

While Skua Goals may not look nearly as fearsome as the birds we’ve listed so far, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Found in the Arctic and Antarctic, these birds are often mistaken for Seagulls but, in fact, they aren’t related to them at all. 

They also don’t rely on the same tactics as a lot of animal-eating birds, and will actively hunt their prey rather than relying on carrion.

They use their sharp, hooked bill to pick fish out of the water and will carry them back to land with their large wings.

These wings are also covered in thick feathers, which help them to survive the winter.

While they prefer to hunt, a Skua Gull will never turn down an easy meal; if they do happen upon a dead animal, they’ll have no qualms pecking away at it.

They’ll also take advantage of injured animals and may even start eating away at them before they’re dead! Competition can be stiff though, as Skua Gulls live in huge colonies. 

Ospreys

One of the most common birds of prey in the Pacific Northwest, the Osprey is famous for its incredible eyesight, keen sense of smell, and aerial acrobatics.

They can be identified by their light brown upperparts and wings, white underparts, and matching white cap. They also have a large, curved bill.

This bill is perfect for tearing through their preferred food – fish. This actually makes them quite unique as a hunter, as most birds of prey will eat almost anything they can get their talons on. 

Ospreys hunt by gliding over the water, snatching fish out, and carrying them back to the land. They’ve also been known to perch on piers and feed on dead bait fish left behind by fishermen. 

Jays

One of the more surprising birds on this list, Jays are common backyard visitors and can be found throughout Europe and most of North America.

Their small size does mean that they aren’t skillful hunters though, and by no means are they taking down rabbits or rats!

When they aren’t eating caterpillars, spiders, snails, beetles, or grasshoppers, they turn their attention to carrion. This could be anything from roadkill to deceased farmyard animals.

They have also been known to steal bird eggs from smaller nests and eat those as well. 

Eagles

Eagles are one of the most fearsome aerial predators in the world. These magnificent birds can be found soaring through the air all over the world including North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. 

Primarily hunters, they have huge, razor sharp talons and a powerful bill that helps them catch and devour their prey. Their diet consists of basically anything smaller than them such as fish, rabbits, hares, lizards, and snakes. 

They’ll also eat insects and, when times are tough, they will peck away at carrion or meat scraps from garbage. 

Roadrunners

Far from the friendly, “meep-meep” cartoon version that you’re likely familiar with, Roadrunners love nothing more than feeding on dead animals.

A member of the Cuckoo family, they can be found in Mexico and throughout the Southwestern United States. 

Roadrunners are extremely opportunistic feeders who will happily tear away at the flesh of anything they can find. Snakes, lizards, insects, eggs, and even baby birds.

If it’s smaller than them, they’ll kill it and eat it. Surprisingly, the only thing they won’t eat is carrion. 

Owls

These silent, nocturnal hunters are another of the world’s deadliest aerial predators.

Their huge eyes help them spot their prey in the dark of night, and their concave faces act as a sounding board, allowing them to hear even the smallest scurrying animal from high above. 

This makes them a pretty unique hunter, but it doesn’t stop there. Another thing that separates owls from most other birds of prey is their bill.

Rather than being curved and protruding, it’s pointed and quite flat against their face. As such, they cannot tear their food into smaller pieces.

Instead, they use their powerful talons to crush their prey, cracking all of the bones as they do. They then swallow it whole, and vomit up the indigestible material as “owl pellets”. 

Crows

Another common backyard bird, Crows have been associated with Halloween and all things deathly for centuries.

And, this isn’t without good reason. Crows are incredibly intelligent birds that will eat anything they can find. From fruits and seeds to carrion, and everything in between.

Their high level of intelligence also allows them to hunt smaller animals as well. They’ll even take on larger animals, pecking away at certain parts of them while they are still alive.

Most famously, Crows will peck at the eyes of lambs and smaller sheep. 

Seagulls

If you’ve ever visited the beach and seen a Seagull pecking away at a garbage bag, you’ll know that they aren’t fussy eaters.

These sea birds will happily devour anything they can find, and that often includes dead animals.

This is particularly true during the winter when food becomes scarce.

Seagulls have been known to frogs, fish, rodents, and even other dead seagulls.

There have even been reports of seagulls devouring small dogs, but that could just be urban legend. Either way one thing is for sure – Seagulls are more than happy to eat anything, alive or dead!

Northern Harriers

This large bird of pretty can be found throughout most of North America and it’s another incredible predator.

Northern Harrier’s will hunt and feed on almost anything they feel they can take on, including lizards, frogs, insects, rodents, small birds, and small mammals.

There have even been reports of Northern Harriers eating snakes. 

They have a fairly unique style of hunting as well. Rather than killing instantly through piercing or crushing, they’ll snatch their prey from the ground, keep hold of them in their strong talons, fly up high, and drop it on the floor.

This kills the animal instantly, whereupon the Northern Harrier will swoop down and start ripping it apart with its razor sharp beak.

Buzzards

A common sight atop telephone poles throughout North America and Europe, Buzzards have a 50/50 diet of carrion and prey. Throughout winter, when most small mammals are hibernating, they’ll feed on dead, decaying animals.

But, when summer comes around, they engage hunter-mode and swoop down on mice, shrews, rabbits, voles, fish, and anything else that they feel they can hunt successfully. 

While Buzzards are abundant across the Northern Hemisphere, it is quite rare to spot one in an urban area. This is mostly because they hunt across open fields, which cities simply do not have.

Hawks

Most people are under the impression that Hawks are one of the fiercest predators, swooping down and killing large prey easily.

But, this is only half true. Sure, they’re excellent hunters. But they rarely kill anything larger than locusts or grasshoppers, which they feed on during the summer months when these insects swarm.

Hawks are actually much more likely to feed on dead animals. They can often be seen circling a field with a dead animal in, assessing the situation before gliding down and tearing into it with their sharp talons and beak. 

Morabou Storks

The Morabou Stork is a tall bird, standing at around 1.3m tall and with a wingspan of 3 meters. They look kind of like a giant turkey, only with a long, pointy beak and slender white legs.

Their eating habits are far from similar to that of a turkey, though!

These birds live almost exclusively on carrion. Whether it’s fish, lizards, insects, rats, mice, snakes, or even other birds. If it’s dead, they’ll eat it. 

Native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Morabou Stork has a long lifespan as well, and can live up to 25 years in the wild. 

Western Jackdaws

Often mistaken for Crows, the Western Jackdaw is overall more gray in appearance with a jet black head, black wing, and black legs.

Their feeding habits are quite similar though, and they’ll eat anything they can find, including carrion. 

Western Jackdaws aren’t shy birds either, and will happily land wherever they feel is most opportunistic.

This means that there’s a pretty good chance of spotting one in your backyard or local park, and they’re equally likely to appear in built-up urban areas too. 

Eurasian Magpies

Magpies are famous for a couple of things. You may associate them as being harbingers of good or bad luck, depending on how many you see at once. You may also know them as thieves of anything shiny.

But did you know that they are also carrion eaters?

But, that’s not all. Despite being relatively small birds, the Eurasian Magpie is an extremely clever bird that is capable of planning out and executing a perfect hunt.

They can even take down a much larger animal, such as a rabbit, killing it by pecking and scratching it to death. 

Crested Caracaras

One of the most unique looking birds on this list, the Crested Caracaras is native to Central and South America.

Named for the crested feathers that sit on top of its blue-purple head, this bird is quite happy scavenging from dead and decaying animals that it happens across.

It’s not only a scavenger, though. Crested Caracaras are also pretty good hunters and will take down small mammals including squirrels and mice, as well as lizards, frogs, and large insects. 

Final Thoughts

The world of meat-eating birds may be a lot larger than you first thought.

From skilled birds of prey to the seemingly friendly birds that you can find in your backyard, birds that eat dead animals can be found on every continent and in almost every habitat.