Omnivore

[19] The word omnivore derives from Latin omnis 'all' and vora, from vorare 'to eat or devour', having been coined by the French and later adopted by the English in the 1800s.

[21]" In more recent times, with the advent of advanced technological capabilities in fields like gastroenterology, biologists have formulated a standardized variation of omnivore used for labeling a species' actual ability to obtain energy and nutrients from materials.

The term "omnivory" is also not always comprehensive because it does not deal with mineral foods such as salt licks or with non-omnivores that self-medicate by consuming either plant or animal material which they otherwise would not (i.e. zoopharmacognosy).

[37] Felines, which are usually regarded as obligate carnivores, occasionally eat grass to regurgitate indigestibles (e.g. hair, bones), aid with hemoglobin production, and as a laxative.

[40] Some species, such as grazing waterfowl like geese, are known to eat mainly animal tissue at one stage of their lives, but plant matter at another.

[45] Various mammals are omnivorous in the wild, such as species of hominids, pigs,[46] badgers, bears, foxes, coatis, civets, hedgehogs, opossums, skunks, sloths, squirrels,[47] raccoons, chipmunks,[48] mice,[49] hamsters and rats.

Canines including wolves, dogs, dingoes, and coyotes eat some plant matter, but they have a general preference and are evolutionarily geared towards meat.

For example, the American eastern gray squirrel has been introduced to parts of Britain, continental Europe and South Africa.

Although this is trivial most of the time, omnivorous or herbivorous birds, such as sparrows, often will feed their chicks insects while food is most needed for growth.

[59] On close inspection it appears that nectar-feeding birds such as sunbirds rely on the ants and other insects that they find in flowers, not for a richer supply of protein, but for essential nutrients such as cobalt/vitamin b12 that are absent from nectar.