Quick Answer
Deer are herbivores, meaning they eat plants, not meat. While deer don’t typically hunt and eat birds, they may occasionally eat eggs or baby birds that they come across by chance. However, this is rare and deer mainly survive on leaves, twigs, grass and other plant foods.
Do Deer Eat Birds?
Deer are herbivorous mammals belonging to the Cervidae family. This means deer have specialized digestive systems designed to break down fibrous plant matter into nutrients. Deer lack the sharp teeth, claws and instinct to hunt down and consume meat. Their diet mainly consists of:
- Grasses
- Leaves
- Twigs
- Bark
- Fruits
- Acorns
- Mushrooms
While deer don’t normally eat birds or other small animals, they may very occasionally snack on eggs, nestlings or fledglings they stumble across. However, this is rare and not a regular part of the deer’s diet.
Why Don’t Deer Eat Meat?
There are several reasons why deer don’t typically eat meat like birds:
- Herbivore Digestive System – Deer have a specialized four-chambered stomach and long intestines designed to break down and digest fibrous plants. They lack the short digestive tract required to process meat.
- Dental Structure – Deer have teeth suited to grinding and chewing plant material. They lack sharp incisors and canines to tear meat.
- Preferred Taste – Through evolution, deer have developed a natural preference for the taste of plant foods over meat.
- Hunting Instinct – Deer are prey animals without the instinct to hunt, kill and consume other animals.
- Nutrition – Deer can get all the protein, nutrients, minerals and energy they need from plants without needing to eat meat.
So while deer can physically eat meat if extremely hungry, their bodies are designed for and strongly adapted to eating vegetation.
When Might Deer Accidentally Eat Birds?
There are a few rare situations where deer may incidentally ingest small amounts of animal protein in the form of birds:
- Eating bird eggs – A deer browsing in a bush may accidentally come across a nest with eggs and sample one.
- Eating hatchlings – If a nest with hatchlings or fledglings falls to the ground near a deer, it may curiosity taste one.
- Eating carrion – Deer have been observed nibbling on dead animal carcasses, including dead birds.
- Licking bones – Deer may lick dry bones to get calcium and minerals, including bird bones.
- Eating bait – Deer attracted to bait set out by hunters may ingest meat, including bird meat.
- Starvation – A severely malnourished deer on the verge of starvation may resort to eating eggs or dead birds.
However, these instances are rare exceptions and do not form a normal part of the deer’s nutritional intake.
Do Deer Eat Chicken, Duck or Other Poultry?
Deer do not intentionally hunt and consume chicken, duck, turkey or other birds kept as poultry by humans. However, deer have been known to take advantage of easy meals, including:
- Eating chicken feed – Deer may access bags of chicken feed, sheep pellets or other livestock feed containing animal proteins.
- Eating eggs – Deer may eat eggs from poultry pens and nesting boxes.
- Eating carcasses – Deer have been reported feeding on dead chickens in poultry houses.
- Raiding duck/chick pens – In suburban areas, deer may access unprotected duck or chicken pens to eat eggs.
While not typical behavior, deer have developed a taste for high-protein feeds and eggs to supplement their plant-based diets. Securing poultry feed, eggs and housing is important in areas with high deer populations.
Examples of Deer Eating Birds
There are a handful of reports and photos showing deer nibbling on bird eggs or carcasses:
- Trail camera photos show deer licking quail eggs laid on the ground as bait by hunters.
- A whitetail deer was photographed eating a dead songbird on a road.
- Deer on Stuart’s Island in Alaska were observed opportunistically eating seabird eggs.
- Deer nibbled on dead ducklings killed by a predator in a suburban backyard.
- A deer used its nose to peel and eat a raw egg after knocking over a turkey nest.
However, these remain isolated events and deer are not dependent on birds or eggs as a substantial food source.
Do Deer Eat Meat or Other Animal Products?
Deer are herbivores, meaning they eat a diet consisting entirely of plant foods. However, deer may ingest small amounts of animal protein, fat or collagen in certain situations by:
- Licking bones for minerals
- Eating eggs
- Sampling carrion or roadkill
- Licking animal blood
- Eating fish randomly encountered near water
- Eating insects attracted to plants
- Consuming bone meal or animal fat in bait piles
- Raiding pet food containing meat
While tiny amounts may be ingested, meat makes up less than 1% of a deer’s nutritional intake. Deer have the capacity to digest animal products but are strongly adapted to survive on fibrous plant material.
Do Deer Need to Eat Meat?
No, deer do not need to eat meat. Deer are able to get all the nutrients they require from browsing on leaves, twigs, bark, buds, grasses, fruit, acorns and other plant foods. The deer digestive system and metabolism is specifically designed to extract protein, energy, vitamins and minerals from a vegetarian diet.
Meat and Protein in a Deer’s Diet
Deer get their protein from plant sources like grasses, legumes, leaves, bark and twigs. Deer also have a symbiotic relationship with microbes in their specialized four-chambered stomach that can synthesize protein from plant fiber. Since deer have adapted to get all the protein they need from vegetation, they do not require supplemental meat in their diets.
Fat and Collagen in a Deer’s Diet
Deer obtain fats and fatty acids from consuming nuts, seeds, berries, leaves, fruits, succulent bark, fungi and algae. Collagen is synthesized by the deer itself since herbivores make vitamin C to turn plant proteins into collagen. Eating meat provides no nutritional advantage.
Minerals in a Deer’s Diet
Deer obtain calcium and other minerals essential for bone growth by grazing on plants and lichens as well as licking or chewing bones they find. But meat isn’t required since plants provide adequate minerals.
What Animals Do Deer Eat?
Deer are herbivores and do not normally hunt and kill other animals for food. However, deer may opportunistically eat:
- Birds – Baby birds, eggs
- Rodents – Squirrels, mice, voles
- Reptiles – Frogs, snakes, turtles
- Insects – Grasshoppers, caterpillars
- Arachnids – Spiders
- Crustaceans – Crabs, crayfish
- Gastropods – Snails, slugs
- Fish – Carp, catfish
- Carrion – Rotting carcasses
Deer have been observed scavenging dead animals or nibbling small live animals. However, this is very rare and makes up an infinitesimal portion of their plant-based diet. Deer do not actively hunt mammals, birds or other creatures to eat.
Why Don’t Deer Eat Other Animals?
Deer don’t normally eat other animals because:
- They lack the predatory instincts of carnivores.
- Their bodies are optimized for plant digestion.
- Plants provide all the nutrition they need.
- Hunting takes considerable energy better spent browsing.
- They are prey animals themselves, not predators.
While deer may sample eggs or carcasses they stumble across, actively hunting other creatures would go against their physiology and natural behavior as herbivores.
Comparison to Other Herbivores
Deer are very similar to other wild herbivorous even-toed ungulates in very rarely eating meat:
Cows
Like deer, cows are specialized herbivores with a four-chambered stomach optimized to digest fibrous vegetation. Cows mainly eat grasses, hay, silage and grain rations. While they may ingest small amounts of animal matter incidentally, cows do not hunt, kill or intentionally consume animals.
Horses
Horses are hindgut fermenters rather than ruminants, with an intestinal tract perfected for a grass-based diet. While horses may eat eggs, mice or chickens by chance, they do not actively hunt meat to eat.
Sheep
Sheep are grazers well-adapted to eating a variety of grasses, shrubs, clovers and weeds. Except when fed bone meal supplements, sheep eat no animal material. Sheep do not have predatory tendencies.
Goats
Goats are natural browsers able to consume woody plants and weeds other animals won’t eat. While goats can digest meat, they do not hunt and are content eating only plant vegetation.
So deer are similar to other domestic and wild grazing animals in avoiding meat and showing no carnivorous tendencies.
Do Pet Deer Eat Meat?
Deer kept as pets or livestock on farms are typically fed an all-vegetarian diet most suited to their digestive system. However, some pet deer owners do supplement with small amounts of meat, eggs or bone meal.
Typical Pet Deer Diet
A balanced pet deer diet consists primarily of:
- Grass grazing
- Hay
- Deer pellets
- Fresh twigs/branches
- Fruits and vegetables
- Tree bark
- Browse plants
- Deer feed and mineral licks
Feeding deer their natural vegetarian diet provides complete nutrition without meat. However, some deer farmers add supplemental:
Meat in Pet Deer Diets
Some deer owners feed tiny amounts of meat protein such as:
- Chicken
- Raw eggs
- Calf manna pellets
- Fish
- Crickets
- Mealworms
- Bone meal
This is not necessary for health but may promote faster antler growth and weight gain. Overfeeding meat can cause gastrointestinal issues in deer. The bulk of the diet should be fibrous plants.
Key Points
- Deer are herbivores specialized in eating a plant-based diet.
- Deer lack the hunting instinct and digestive system to consume birds and meat.
- While deer may sample eggs or carcasses by chance, they do not hunt birds and mammals to eat.
- Deer get all their nutritional requirements from grazing on grasses, leaves, twigs, acorns and other plant foods.
- Compared to other ungulates like cows and sheep, deer also avoid eating animals.
- While tiny amounts of meat may be fed, most pet deer thrive on a vegetarian diet.
The bottom line
Deer are herbivores adapted to eat a wide variety of fibrous plant foods. While deer may ingest small amounts of animal matter by chance, they do not intentionally hunt and consume birds, poultry or other animals. Deer can get all the protein, nutrients and minerals they need to thrive from greens, branches and other vegetation.
Food Type | Do Deer Eat? |
---|---|
Birds | No – may sample eggs or fledglings by chance but do not hunt birds |
Poultry | No – may eat eggs and carcasses opportunistically but do not kill |
Mammals | No – deer lack predatory instincts and teeth to kill and eat mammals |
Reptiles/Amphibians | No – may incidentally ingest small reptiles and frogs but do not hunt them |
Fish | No – deer do not catch and eat fish but may sample dead fish near water |
Insects | Minimally – may ingest insects while browsing but do not seek them out as food |
Carrion | Rarely – deer may sample rotting carcasses for minerals but do not scavenge kills |
Plants | Yes – grasses, leaves, twigs, bark, buds, fruit and fungi form the bulk of the deer diet |
Conclusion
Deer are designed as herbivores through their anatomy and physiology. While they may ingest tiny amounts of animal matter by chance, deer do not actively hunt and consume birds, poultry or other animals. Deer thrive on a varied vegetarian diet of leaves, twigs, fruits, nuts, fungi and algae. Their specialized digestive system allows deer to gain all the nutrients they need from plant foods without requiring meat. Deer are content eating greens and do not feel a desire or need to eat birds or other animals.